Cause of Liberty

Miraculous Constitution

2012-02-16T22:00:00.000-09:00

The topic of discussion for this Freedom Friday is the genius of the United States Constitution and its application of People's Law. The American Colonists considered themselves to be loyal subjects of the King of England and they did not want to break away from their mother country. The Revolutionary War did not start with the idea of achieving independence from the King; it started because the colonists wanted to protect the rights of the people. After fighting with the British for two years, the Americans realized in early 1776 that independence from the Crown was the only way to protect their rights.

The colonists operated in America for 180 years (1607-1787) before they wrote the Constitution that has governed our nation for more than 200 years. It was not an easy task and took time and effort to come up with formula for success. The colonies operated under the Articles of Confederation during the Revolutionary War and almost lost the war because of it. The Articles of Confederation had "no executive, no judiciary, no taxing power, and no enforcement power." The national government made recommendations to the states but had no power to enforce them.

An example of the problems of operating under the Articles of Confederation is clearly shown by the suffering and death of soldiers at Valley Forge and Morristown. The central government did not have power to force the states to send manpower, funds, or supplies to the army; therefore, it was unable to provide food, clothing, equipment, and manpower to fight the war. There were approximately 8,000 soldiers at Valley Forge at the beginning; about 3,000 simply went home and about 2,000 died of starvation or disease. General Washington thought the weakness of the central government was the principle problem for non-support.

None of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention could have written the Constitution alone, and each delegate understood this fact. They knew that they needed to work together because their states were very divided. Their new nation was struggling for several reasons: 1) The Continental dollar was nearly worthless due to inflation. 2) The economy was not good. 3) The people were fighting against each other in riots. 4) The New England states were threatening to withdraw from the union. 5) England and

Spain

were ready for an opportunity to step in and grab any straggling states.

It was not easy to be a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. The delegates did not expect to be away from home for four months, and some of them had to return home to handle problems while others were borrowing money to meet expenses. The first rule of the Convention was to keep all the discussion secret from anyone outside the Convention. The delegates did most of their debating and the majority of discussing in what was called "the Committee of the Whole" because the decisions of "committees" were less final than a Convention vote would be. After the delegates had argued and finalized their decisions, they would reassemble themselves into the "Convention" to make their official votes.

Founders wanted agreement on what the Constitution was to do, and they discussed the various topics until they could reach a consensus. After four months of discussions, there were three topics upon which they could not reach agreement: slavery, how to proportion representation, and how to regulate commerce. These were the only issues that had to be settled by compromise.

The Framers completed their work, signed the document on September 17, 1787, and sent it to Congress. Congress did not make any changes but ratified it and sent it out to the states. Some of the states did not like everything in the Constitution and threatened to reject the whole Constitution. There were five significant objections raised: 1) the loss of sovereignty for states; 2) the absence of a Bill of Rights to protect the citizens from federal power; 3) fear that the President would become like the King they had just defeated; 4) fear of the independent federal judges; 5) fear about the federal power to tax.

The states were encouraged to ratify the main body of the Constitution and then submit suggestions about how to amend the document, ultimately submitting 189 suggested amendments. In the first Congress held under the new Constitution, James Madison went through all the suggested amendments and narrowed them down to twelve, ten of which were approved and ratified by the states. These ten became the Bill of Rights.

The Framers of the Constitution were geniuses as a group, and they brought forth a miraculous document. They came together at just the right time, they were able to discuss and compromise where necessary, and they wrote 4400 miraculous words. After the first ten amendments were approved as the Bill of Rights, only seventeen other amendments have been made in the course of more than two hundred years. Two of those amendments are considered to be "throw away amendments" as they established and then abolished Prohibition.

The true genius of the Constitution is that it created a system of government that could continue to govern the nation as the nation grew in both geographical area and population. It is miraculous in its ability to defy both anarchy and tyranny. The words "We the People" found in both the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution proclaim the principle that God gives men unalienable rights and the purpose of government is to protect those rights.

Ideas and information are from W. Cleon Skousen in The Five Thousand Year Leap - 28 Great Ideas That Changed the World, pp. 18-22. This is a wonderful book with many different ideas about freedom. It is well worth the money to purchase it and the time and effort to study it!

Frances Folsom Cleveland

2012-02-15T22:00:00.001-09:00

Frances Clara Folsom was born on July 21, 1864, in Buffalo, New York, and was the daughter of Oscar Folsom and Emma Harmon. Frances was her parents' only child to survive infancy as her sister, Nellie Augusta, died just previous to her first birthday. Frances was given the name of Frank in honor of an uncle, but she later adopted the feminine version of the name, Frances.

Oscar was a lawyer as well as a descendant of the earliest settlers of Exeter, New Hampshire. Frances' ancestors from both sides of her family came from England and settled in the area that would later be known as Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire; from there they eventually migrated to western New York.

Frances

' father was a longtime and close friend of Grover Cleveland; therefore, it was only natural for Grover (age 27) to take an interest in the new baby. He bought a baby carriage for her and otherwise pampered her as she was growing up. When Oscar died in a carriage accident on July 23, 1875, without a written will, the court appointed Cleveland to be the administrator of his quarter-million dollar estate. Frances was 11 years old at the time of her father's death and continued to live with her mother who was still living.

Frances

attended Central High School in Buffalo, New York, and Medina High School in Medina, New York, before attending Wells College in Aurora, New York. It was sometime during her college days that Cleveland developed romantic feelings for her. Soon after her graduation from college, he sent a letter to her in August 1885 with his proposal, and she accepted. The engagement was not announced until five days before the wedding. Frances' mother was not pleased initially with the engagement because she believed that the President should have asked her - the mother - to be his bride rather than the daughter.

President Cleveland was 49 and

Frances

was 21 when they were married on June 2, 1886, at the White House. Cleveland was the only President to be married in the White House and spent his wedding day working as he usually did. The wedding took place at 7:00 p.m. in the Blue Room of the White House and was performed by the Reverend Byron Sutherland, assisted by the Reverend William Cleveland, the groom's brother. The wedding was a small affair and was attended by relatives, close friends, the Cabinet and their wives. The bride's mother and both grandmothers could have been in attendance. The words "honor, love, and keep" were substituted for "honor, love and obey". The music was provided by John Philip Sousa and the Marine Band. The newlyweds honeymooned for five days at Deer Park in the Cumberland Mountains of Western Maryland.

Frances became the youngest First Lady and remains so today. She endured "intense media interest" when she took over the duties of White House hostess, but "her charm won her popularity." When President Cleveland was defeated in the 1888 election, the Clevelands moved to New York. Before leaving the White House, Frances told the staff, "I want you to take good care of all the furniture and ornaments in the house, for I want to find everything just as it is now when we come back again … four years from today" (World Book Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 671). As Cleveland was the only President to serve two nonconsecutive terms so Frances was the only First Lady to be in two nonconsecutive administrations.

Grover and Frances were parents of five children, two son and three daughters: Ruth (1891-1904), Esther (1893-1980), Marion (1895-1977), Richard Folsom (1897-1974), and Francis Grover (1903-1995).

Cleveland Hall was constructed on the Wells College Campus in 1911 in honor of Frances Cleveland. It originally served as a library but now holds foreign language classes. Frances lived in Princeton, New Jersey, after Cleveland passed away in 1908. She married again at age 49 on February 10, 1913, to Thomas J. Preston, Jr., a professor at Princeton University. In doing so, she became the first presidential widow to marry again. Frances passed away on October 29, 1947, in Baltimore and was buried in Princeton next to President Cleveland.

Information for this article except as noted came from Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Folsom_Cleveland_Preston

Fast and Furious

2012-02-14T22:00:00.001-09:00

The investigation into Project Fast and Furious, the failed gun-running program, is still big news, but it is not widely reported except by Internet news sites. This is a bigger scandal for Obama than Watergate was for Nixon, but the lame stream media is either not reporting it at all or not widely.

NRANews.com has "covered it and the resulting cover-up by the Obama Justice Department more thoroughly and completely than any other media outlet in the country." Mark Chesnut, NRA editor, reported that "NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams" has done the "poorest job covering this misguided program, which potentially put thousands of guns into the hands of Mexican drug cartels." According to Chesnut, "`NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams' has not done a single story on `Fast and Furious' in 2011!

CNN.com did run an article on February 2, 2012, concerning Attorney General Eric Holder and his appearance before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee about Operation Fast and Furious. When Holder was asked about the steps he had taken since the controversy arose 13 months ago, he replied that "he is awaiting the conclusions of an internal investigation. Regarding people found culpable in that inquiry, he said, `I can assure you those people will be removed from federal service.'" He also said at the hearing that "any possible charges will not be filed until the department has the evidence to get a conviction."

Representative Darrell Issa, R-California, has grown tired of waiting for Holder to be forthcoming about releasing documents. In fact, he has recently threatened to begin a contempt proceeding against Holder to force him to release the necessary documents. At least 60 congressmen and two senators have called for Holder to resign his position; 75 representatives have sponsored a House resolution, stating in part that "it is the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress has lost confidence in the Attorney General of the United States."

Project Fast and Furious is a huge scandal. It was designed to monitor the flow of weapons - firearms that were purchased illegally - to be taken from United States gun stores to drug cartels in Mexico, but it failed miserably. The problem is that hundreds of weapons were lost or unaccounted for, and two of those missing weapons were found near the site where Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed on December 15, 2010, in Peck Canyon near Rio Rico, Arizona. He and his unit were patrolling in search of bandits who prey on smugglers when a firefight broke out and Agent Terry was shot in the pelvic area.

Agent Terry's family quickly realized there were problems when they heard that two "Fast and Furious" guns that were allowed to "walk" across the Mexican border were found at the scene of his slaying. They knew that there was a congressional investigation into "Fast and Furious and that the investigation was met with stonewalling, diversions and lies by the Obama-Holder Department of Justice (DOJ). This behavior is coupled with refusal by Holder to apologize to the family, an order to seal all records in relation to his slaying, and other odd treatment of the family by the DOJ."

The Terry family finally decided to take some action on its own and filed a $25 million wrongful death claim against the federal government on Wednesday, February 1, 2011. This claim charges that U.S. investigators allowed murder weapons into the hands of criminals. "The murder of Agent Terry and other acts of violent crimes were the natural consequence of (the) decision to let dangerous weapons designed to kill human beings `walk' into the hands of violent drug-trafficking gangs."

Democrats and Republicans are at odds about "who knew what about the operation and when" they knew it. Democrats have even stooped so low as to blame the problem on President George W. Bush.

General Michael V. Hayden, former CIA director under Bush from 2006 until February 2009, wrote an interesting article about Fast and Furious here. He is currently a principal with the Chertoff Group, which is a security consulting firm, and also serves on the boards of several defense firms. He is also an adviser to Mitt Romney's presidential campaign.

Hayden discussed a few of the safeguards that have to be in place before the CIA authorizes any program. He then wrote, "Now Holder, without such safeguards in place, must defend himself against some very tough accusations, including one by some skeptics that the operation was intended principally to discredit, and thereby justify further regulation of, firearms dealers."

Russ Vaughn in an article on American Thinker quoted the above article and then continued: "Reading that, from one of the top intelligence minds in the world, has to make one wonder. Why, while diverting the claim away from himself by attributing the belief to some skeptics, did the former director of the CIA drop that bit of speculation into the mix? Do you seriously believe that a man of his stature and inside connections would raise the question purely gratuitously?

"Details of Operation Fast & Furious, with the revelations of all the deaths caused by this incredibly stupid federal program, are infuriating enough; but they are nothing compared to the fury that will engulf tens of millions of citizens when they finally learn the truth: that the Obama Administration secretively and criminally used the Justice Department to further a liberal Democrat agenda to curtail the constitutional right to keep and bear arms. Trust me, they know and fear that reaction should the truth ever see light. Not only could that revelation prevent any chance of re-election, it could also result in multiple impeachments and criminal indictments, because hundreds of Mexicans and some American agents died as the result of a foolishly conceived and stupidly implemented liberal political scheme to undermine the constitution."

Vaughn remembered, as did I, that President Obama made a statement approximately ten months ago about working on gun control "under the radar." I wondered what he meant by his statement, but I believed him. Like Vaughn, I think it is highly likely that he was talking about Fast and Furious. If he knew about and/or approved Fast and Furious, he should be impeached!

Greatness of Grover Cleveland

2012-02-13T22:00:00.000-09:00

Grover Cleveland was the first Democrat to be elected to the office of President of the United States after the Civil War. He was also the only President to serve two terms of office that were not consecutive. He was elected President in 1884 but lost the office four years later to Benjamin Harrison. He campaigned for office against Harrison in 1892 and won a second term. His honesty and common sense led people to trust him and elect him to leadership. A previous article about the facts of his life can be found here.

President Cleveland is considered to be a conservative even though he was a Democrat because he had the courage to say "no" to special interest groups. He is known for saying "no" often - "farmers who sought easy money to pay their debts, manufacturers who wanted high protective tariffs, and to veterans who wanted bigger pensions. These `No's' made Cleveland unpopular in his time, but have added to the respect with which history holds him." (World Book Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 668).

Cleveland faced a Republican Senate and used his veto powers often; in fact, he used the power to veto more often than any previous President. "He vetoed hundreds of private pension bills for American Civil War veterans, believing that if their pensions requests had already been rejected by the Pensions Bureau, Congress should not attempt to override that decision. When Congress, pressured by the Grand Army of the Republic, passed a bill granting pensions for disabilities not caused by military service, Cleveland also vetoed that [bill]. "

President Cleveland signed his most-famous veto in 1887 when he vetoed the Texas Seed Bill. A drought had ruined crops in several counties in Texas, and Congress appropriated $10,000 to purchase seed grain for the affected farmers. Cleveland shared his theory of limited government when he vetoed this bill. "I can find no warrant for such an appropriation in the Constitution, and I do not believe that the power and duty of the general government ought to be extended to the relief of individual suffering which is in no manner properly related to the public service or benefit. A prevalent tendency to disregard the limited mission of this power and duty should, I think, be steadfastly resisted to the end that the lesson should be constantly enforced that, though the people support the government, the government should not support the people. The friendliness and charity of our countrymen can always be relied upon to relieve their fellow-citizens in misfortune. This has been repeatedly and quite lately demonstrated. Federal aid in such cases encourages the expectation of paternal care on the part of the government and weakens the sturdiness of our national character, while it prevents the indulgence among our people of that kindly sentiment and conduct which strengthens the bonds of a common brotherhood."

President Cleveland was totally correct in his assessment of the American people. The "fellow-citizens" donated ten times more money to help the farmers as the President vetoed. I like this quote so well that I included in both my articles written about Cleveland. The second article is entitle "Life, Liberty and Property" and can be found here. l

We can tell a lot about people by the things they say, especially if their actions are aligned with their words. The following quotes were listed among Cleveland's top ten statements.

"Public officers are the servants and agents of the people, to execute the laws which the people have made."

"The ship of democracy, which has weathered all storms, may sink through the mutiny of those on board."

"I know there is a Supreme Being who rules the affairs of men and whose goodness and mercy have always followed the American people, and I know He will not turn from us now if we humbly and reverently seek His powerful aid."

"It is better to be defeated standing for a high principle than to run by committing subterfuge."

"A government for the people must depend for its success on the intelligence, the morality, the justice, and the interest of the people themselves."

The Grover Cleveland Library listed the following quotes that could easily apply to our day.

"The lessons of paternalism ought to be unlearned and the better lesson taught that while the people should patriotically and cheerfully support their Government, its functions do not include the support of the people."

"What is the use of being elected or reelected, unless you stand for something?"

"The truly American sentiment recognizes the dignity of labor and the fact that honor lies in natural toil."

"This vigilance on the part of the citizen, and an active interest and participation in political concerns, are the safeguards of his rights; but sluggish indifference to political privileges invites the machinations of those who wait to betray the people's trust."

"Parties may be so long in power, and may become so arrogant and careless of the interests of the people, as to grow heedless of their responsibility to their masters. But the time comes, as certainly as death, when the people weigh them in the balance."

We could certainly use a President who thinks like Cleveland. We need someone in the office who knows how to define and defend conservative values. Cleveland lived and governed by conservative principles; even though his peers didn't appreciate his principles, his adherence to his principles helps to make him great.

No Export Taxes

2012-02-12T22:00:00.000-09:00

The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday comes from Article I.9.5: "No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State." This clause gave states the right to export goods to foreign nations without the central government taxing them.

"This provision was adopted at the insistence of the cotton states because of their profitable markets in Europe. They did not want an export tax which would force them to sell to the New England textile mills at a cheaper price.

"It should be noted that Congress may tax commodities even though they are exported by the states, providing the tax is uniformly applied on these goods whether they are exported or not….

"This clause received extensive discussion…." (See W. Cleon Skousen in The Making of America - The Substance and Meaning of the Constitution, p. 482.)

"The Export Taxation Clause was one of the many accommodations that the Framers made to cement unity among the various sections of the union. Many of the Southern delegates at the Constitutional Convention regarded the clause as a prerequisite to gaining their approval of the Constitution. As the primary exporter of goods in the late eighteenth century, the South would have borne a disproportionate burden from export taxes. In addition to their disproportionate burden argument, George Mason voiced the South's fear that a tax on exports would create a mechanism through which the more numerous Northern states could overwhelm the Southern states' economies. They also worried that export taxes could be used indirectly to attack slavery. They were joined by Northerners such as Oliver Ellsworth, who declared that export taxes would stifle industry….

"Although the original purpose of the Export Taxation Clause was to prevent sectional favoritism by Congress, the Court has chosen to enforce the flat ban that the Framers placed into the Constitution's text, rather than seeking to measure an export tax's discriminatory effect. Under the Commerce Clause, Congress retains the power to regulate exports, even to the extent of creating embargoes. It may not, however, utilize export taxes as a means of regulation." (See David F. Forte in The Heritage Guide to the Constitution, pp. 161-162.)

After Death?

2012-02-11T22:00:00.001-09:00

Death is a temporary separation of the spirit from the body; while the body lies in the grave, the spirit dwells in a place called the spirit world. Most of us have loved ones who have passed from this life, and all of us will die at some time. All of us will go from this life into the spirit world.

Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles described the spirit world as "a place of paradise and happiness for those who have lived righteous lives. It is not something to fear" (Ensign, Nov. 1996, p. 66.) The spirit world is a place where the gospel of Jesus Christ will be taught to people who were unable to hear it during their lives upon earth.

A good demonstration of the difference between life and death was presented by Elder Boyd K. Packer (Ensign, July 1973, pp. 51, 53) when he held up a glove and pointed out that the glove had no life and could not move by itself. He then put the glove on his hand and showed that the glove could now move wherever the hand went. In this demonstration, the glove represents the body and the hand represents the spirit. A spirit combined with a physical body makes a person - a living soul.

"And the spirit and the body are the soul of man.

"And the resurrection from the dead is the redemption of the soul" (Doctrine and Covenants 88:15-16).

Earth life was not intended to last forever; it was always intended to be a temporary condition. One day each of us will die, and our body and spirit will separate. Death is part of God's plan of happiness for His children. When the body and the spirit are separated, the body cannot move because it is dead; however, the spirit is still alive.

As part of the Atonement, Jesus Christ overcame mortal death. Because He overcame death, the separation of the spirit from the body will not be permanent. Each person who was ever born on earth will be resurrected. At the time of resurrection, the body and spirit will be united in a perfect state, never to be separated again.

When we lived in the premortal world, we were all spirits. When we came to earth our spirits and mortal bodies were joined together. When we die, our spirits will leave our physical bodies; while our bodies are dead, our spirits will remain alive and dwell in a place called the spirit world.

What is the spirit world like? What are the conditions of life after death? Corianton, the son of a prophet named Alma, was concerned about where the spirit would go between death and the resurrection. His father told him, "Now, concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection - Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that God who gave them life" (Book of Mormon - Another Testament of Jesus Christ, Alma 40:11).

President Joseph Fielding Smith referred to Alma 40:11 when he said: "`Taken home to God,' simply means that their mortal existence has come to an end, and they have returned to the world of spirits, where they are assigned to a place according to their works with the just or with the unjust, there to await the resurrection" (Answers to Gospel Questions, comp. Joseph Fielding Smith Jr., 5 vols. [1957-66], 2:85).

According to the statements of both Alma and President Smith, spirits - whether good or evil, just or unjust - will go to the spirit world. There they will be assigned a place according to their works on earth.

The prophet Alma also taught the following to his people: "Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world" (Alma 34:34).

We will be basically the same person in the next world as we are here one earth. Our spirits will carry to the spirit world the same personalities, tendencies, appetites, and desires that we have here on earth.

President Brigham Young taught: "Suppose … that a man is evil in his heart - wholly given up to wickedness, and in that condition dies, his spirit will enter into the spirit world intent upon evil. On the other hand, if we are striving with all the powers and faculties God has given us to improve upon our talents, to prepare ourselves to dwell in eternal life, and the grave receives our bodies while we are thus engaged, with what disposition will our spirits enter their next state? They will be still striving to do the things of God, only in a much greater degree." (See Discourses of Brigham Young, sel. John A. Widtsoe [1941], 379.)

Alma taught his son, Corianton: "And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest form all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow.

"And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of the wicked, yea who are evil - for behold, they have no part nor portion of the Spirit of the Lord; for behold, they chose evil works rather than good; therefore the spirit of the devil did enter into them, and take possession of their house - and these shall be cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth, and this because of their own iniquity, being led captive by the will of the devil.

"Now this is the state of the souls of the wicked, yea, in darkness, and a state of awful, fearful looking for the fiery indignation of the wrath of God upon them; thus they remain in this state, as well as the righteous in paradise, until the time of their resurrection" (Alma 40:12-14).

People who accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ on earth and lived righteously are assigned to a state of happiness known as paradise. People who rejected the gospel and people who have died without a knowledge of the truth are assigned to a state of darkness called spirit prison, sometimes called hell.

The term "spirit prison" is an appropriate name for the condition of people who die without having accepted the gospel because the people that go there are shut off from the peace and joy they would feel if they had received the truth and lived righteously.

During the three days after He was crucified, Jesus Christ visited the righteous spirits in paradise. The Apostle Peter taught, "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

"By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;

"Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water" (1 Peter 3:18-20).

Peter told us that Christ went to the spirit world, but he didn't tell us what Christ did there. Through latter-day revelation to President Joseph F. Smith, we learn that "… the Lord went not in person among the wicked and the disobedient who had rejected the truth, to teach them;

"But behold, from among the righteous, he organized his forces and appointed messengers, clothed with power and authority, and commissioned them to go forth and carry the light of the gospel to them that were in darkness, even to all the spirits of men; and thus was the gospel preached to the dead.

"And the chosen messengers went forth to declare the acceptable day of the Lord and proclaim liberty to the captives who were bound, even unto all who would repent of their sins and receive the gospel.

"Thus was the gospel preached to those who had died in their sins, without a knowledge of the truth, or in transgression, having rejected the prophets.

"These were taught faith in God, repentance from sin, vicarious baptism for the remission of sins, the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands,

"And all other principles of the gospel that were necessary for them to know in order to qualify themselves that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit" (Doctrine and Covenants 138:29-34).

Thus we learn that Jesus Christ appointed messengers from among the righteous to preach His gospel to those in spirit prison. Until that time, the spirits in spirit prison were not permitted to have contact with the spirits in paradise.

Elder Bruce R. McConkie who was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught: "Now that the righteous spirits in paradise have been commissioned to carry the message of salvation to the wicked spirits in hell, there is a certain amount of mingling together of the good and bad spirits. Repentance opens the prison doors to the spirits in hell; it enables those bound with the chains of hell to free themselves from darkness, unbelief, ignorance, and sin. As rapidly as they can overcome these obstacles - gain light, believe truth, acquire intelligence, cast off sin, and break the chains of hell - they can leave the hell that imprisons them and dwell with the righteous in the peace of paradise." (See Mormon Doctrine, 2nd ed. [1966], 755.)

President Joseph F. Smith learned that Jesus Christ chose faithful elders to take His message to the spirits in prison. "I beheld that the faithful elders of this dispensation, when they depart from mortal life, continue their labors in the preaching of the gospel of repentance and redemption, through the sacrifice of the Only Begotten Son of God, among those who are in darkness and under the bondage of sin in the great world of the spirits of the dead" (Doctrine and Covenants 138:57).

Many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are called to serve full-time missions in this life. Since the Church is organized in the spirit world and there are still spirits there who have not heard and accepted the truth, we will also be able to serve missions after death if we have lived righteously.

I know that death is just one part of God's great plan of salvation. As the glove without the hand is lifeless, so the physical body without the spirit is dead. While righteous spirits await their resurrection, they are busy carrying on the work of our Heavenly Father. I encourage all of us to live righteously now so that we can enter paradise later and be able to serve the Lord in the spirit world.

Using Time Wisely

2012-02-10T22:00:00.001-09:00

Families grow stronger when both parents and children understand the importance of wise time management. By using their time wisely, families are better able to accomplish the necessary duties of the day and still have time to spend together.

Wise men and women have counseled good time management for many years. Benjamin Franklin said, "Do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of."

Whenever I think about the subject of using time wisely, I remember a book I read when I was a young woman. It was a very small book, both in size and in number of pages, but I remember it often. The title of the book - or at least one of the stories in the book - was Twenty-four Golden Hours. The story was about a young woman - I think that her name was Charlotte - who had a negative attitude about life. Someone counseled her to spend twenty-four hours thinking positive thoughts, looking for the good in people, and searching for people that needed her service. At the end of that twenty-four hour period, the young woman considered that time to be golden - the best of her life.

I was taught the importance of time when I was just a child. My family lived on a farm, and we were always up early in the morning in order to get as much work as possible completed during daylight hours. We worked hard all day long and did not rest until after sunset. I remember learning a hymn about time - written by Robert B. Baird (1855-1916) and entitled "Improve the Shining Moments," (Hymns, 226).

Improve the shining moments; Don't let them pass you by.

Work while the sun is radiant; Work, for the night draws nigh.

We cannot bid the sunbeams To lengthen out their stay,

Nor can we ask the shadow To ever stay away.

Time flies on wings of lightning; We cannot call it back.

It comes, then passes forward Along its onward track.

And if we are not mindful, The chance will fade away,

For life is quick in passing, 'Tis as a single day.

As wintertime doth follow The pleasant summer days,

So may our joys all vanish And pass far from our gaze.

Then should we not endeavor Each day some point to gain,

That we may here be useful And ev'ry wrong disdain?

Improve each shining moment. In this you are secure,

For promptness bringeth safety And blessings rich and pure.

Let prudence guide your actions; Be honest in your heart;

And God will love and bless you And help to you impart.

I am always trying to learn better time management, trying to stretch my time as far as possible. I recognize that we are all given the same number of seconds in every minute, the same number of minutes in every hour, and the same number of hours in every day. I also recognize that some people seem to use their time so much better than other people. The old adage, "If you want something done, ask a busy person," seems to be true in many, many cases.

"Time is never for sale; time is a commodity that cannot, try as you may, be bought at any store for any price. Yet when time is wisely used, its value is immeasurable. On any given day we are all allocated, without cost, the same number of minutes and hours to use….

"The poor use of time is a close cousin of idleness. As we follow the command to `cease to be idle' (Doctrine and Covenants 88:124), we must be sure that being busy also equates to being productive. For example, it is wonderful to have the means of instant communication quite literally at our fingertips, but let us be sure that we do not become compulsive fingertip communicators. I sense that some are trapped in a new time-consuming addiction - one that enslaves us to be constantly checking and sending social messages and thus giving the false impression of being busy and productive." (See Ian S. Ardern,"A Time to Prepare," Ensign,Nov. 2011, 31.)

An ancient American prophet taught, "For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors." (See Book of Mormon - Another Testament of Jesus Christ, Alma 34:32.)

Time has suddenly become even more important to me. My husband's sister was recently diagnosed with cancer - liver and pancreas - and has been given limited time to live. She plans to have radiation treatment in order to lengthen the time she has with her family. I often find myself thinking, "What would I do if I were given three months to live? What would be the most valuable use of my limited time? Would I spend my time and energy finishing projects to leave to my children and grandchildren or would I simply spend the time enjoying my loved ones?"

The fact remains that we will all run out of time at some point in our lives. Are we preparing for that day by using each hour, each day to the fullest? Wise families learn good time management in order to have more time to enjoy each other.

A wonderful family home evening about time management can be found here. http://www.ldsliving.com/story/67111-fhe-time-management

People's Law

2012-02-09T22:00:00.001-09:00

The topic for this Freedom Friday is that People's Law is in direct opposition to Ruler's Law. The Founders fought a war to escape the tyranny of Ruler's Law and wanted to set up a system of government that made every citizen free. This "Great Experiment" of the Founders started with their knowledge of the freedom under People's Law as originally practiced by the Anglo Saxons.

Thomas Jefferson in particular admired People's Law. One authority on Jefferson wrote: "Jefferson's great ambition at that time [1776] was to promote a renaissance of Anglo-Saxon primitive institutions on the new continent. Thus presented, the American Revolution was nothing but the reclamation of the Anglo-Saxon birthright of which the colonists had been deprived by a `long trend of abuses.' Nor does it appear that there was anything in this theory which surprised or shocked his contemporaries; Adams apparently did not disapprove of it, and it would be easy to bring in many similar expressions of the same idea in documents of the time" (Gilbert Chinard, Thomas Jefferson: The Apostle of Americanism, pp 86-87).

The main points of People's Law as practiced by the Anglo-Saxons are as follow: "1) The Anglo-Saxons considered themselves a commonwealth of freemen. 2) All decisions and the selection of leaders had to be with the consent of the people, preferably by full consensus, not just a majority. 3) The laws by which they were governed were considered natural laws given by divine dispensation, and were so well known by the people they did not have to be written down. 4) Power was dispersed among the people and never allowed to concentrate in any one person or group. Even in time of war, the authority granted to the leaders was temporary and the power of the people to remove them was direct and simple. 5) Primary responsibility for resolving problems rested first of all with the individual, then the family, then the tribe or community, then the region, and finally, the nation. 6) They were organized into small, manageable groups where every adult had a voice and a vote. They divided the people into units of ten families who elected a leader; then fifty families who elected a leader; then a hundred families who elected a leader; and then a thousand families who elected a leader. 7) They believed the rights of the individual were considered unalienable and could not be violated without risking the wrath of divine justice as well as civil retribution by the people's judges. 8) The system of justice was structured on the basis of severe punishment unless there was complete reparation to the person who had been wronged. There were only four `crimes' or offenses against the whole people. These were treason, by betraying their own people; cowardice, by refusing to fight or failing to fight courageously; desertion; and homosexuality. These were considered capital offenses. All other offenses required reparation to the person who had been wronged. 9) They always attempted to solve problems on the level where the problem originated. If this was impossible they went no higher than was absolutely necessary to get a remedy. Usually only the most complex problems involving the welfare of the whole people, or a large segment of the people, ever went to the leaders for solution."

The Founders also studied the record of the ancient Israelites, and they realized that the ancient Israelites and the Anglo-Saxons had a similar system of government. The principle characteristics of the law practiced by Ancient Israel are as follow: "1) First of all, they were set up as a commonwealth of freemen…. 2) All the people were organized into small manageable units where the representative of each family had a voice and a vote…. 3) There was specific emphasis on strong, local self-government. Problems were solved to the greatest possible extent on the level where they originated…. 4) The entire code of justice was based primarily on reparation to the victim rather than fines and punishment by the commonwealth…. 5) Leaders were elected and new laws were approved by the common consent of the people…. 6) Accused persons were presumed to be innocent until proven guilty. Evidence had to be strong enough to remove any question of doubt as to guilt. Borderline cases were decided in favor of the accused and he was released. It was felt that if he were actually guilty, his punishment could be left to the judgment of God in the future life."

The Founders studied and understood the People's Law as practiced by the Anglo-Saxons and the divinely-inspired and perfect system of government used by Ancient Israel. When they wrote the Constitution of the

United States

, they used this knowledge to organize a government for Americans built on solid principles, principles that had been proven and used by other governments.

Americans must realize and acknowledge that the Founders had a successful formula and must insist that our government be restored to constitutional principles. We must also strengthen the love for God, family, and country and bring morality back into our lives, business and government. We must remember the words of John Adams who stated: "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."

I was very interested in the fact that both the Anglo-Saxons and the Ancient Israelites governments were based on a bottom up philosophy. When Brigham Young became the leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and had the responsibility to lead thousands of people to the Salt Lake Valley, he wondered how he could govern so many thousands of people. The word and the will of the Lord came through Brigham Young to the people. Part of that counsel was, "Let all the people of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and those who journey with them, be organized into companies, with a covenant and promise to keep all the commandments and statutes of the Lord our God.

"Let the companies be organized with captains of hundreds, captains of fifties, and captains of tens, with a president and his two counselors at their head, under the direction of the Twelve Apostles" (Doctrine and Covenants 136:2-3).

Each company was responsible to have teams of animals, seeds, and farming utensils and to bear an equal proportion of the poor, the widows, the fatherless, and the families of men who had gone into the U.S. Army. The fathers and/or mothers were responsible for their individual families. Ten families were grouped under a captain of ten; five groups of ten families were put under a captain of fifty, and two groups of fifty were put under a captain of one hundred. It was a government that was built from the bottom up, and it worked!

The United States is organized under a similar pattern: families, communities, cities, counties, states, and federal government. This order works well if there is no grabbing of power. Problems in a family are best handled in the family; problems in a community are best handled in the community; the same is true of cities and counties. The federal government should concentrate on their assigned duties and responsibilities as stated in the Constitution and restore power to the states for those tasks that are reserved to the states.

Many of the ideas and quotes came from W. Cleon Skousen in The Five Thousand Year Leap - 28 Great Ideas That Changed the World, pp 13-18. If you do not currently have regular access to this book, I encourage you to purchase it. The book is invaluable in learning about the freedoms we enjoy - or should enjoy - under the U.S. Constitution.

Elizabeth Kortright Monroe

2012-02-08T22:00:00.000-09:00

Elizabeth Kortright was born on June 30, 1768, in New York; she was the daughter of Laurence Kortright and Hannah Aspinwall Kortright. Her father was an officer in the British army and had made a fortune "privateering" during the French and Indian War. Elizabeth was no taller than five feet as shown by one of her gowns in the collection of the James Monroe Museum. She "acquired social grace and elegance at an early age."

Miss. Kortright attracted the attention of James Monroe in 1785 while he was a member of the Continental Congress meeting in New York. James and Elizabeth were married on February 16, 1786, in New York City when he was twenty-seven and she was seventeen. The couple spent a brief honeymoon on Long Island and then returned to live with her father until Congress adjourned. They then returned to Virginia where their first child was born.

James and Elizabeth were parents of three children, two daughters and one son. Eliza Monroe Hay (1786/87-1835) married George Hay in 1808 and was a substitute for her ailing mother. The son (1799-1801) died at age two. His grave stone lists his name as "J.S. Monroe." He was apparently named James Monroe, Jr., with speculation that his middle name was Spence. Maria Hester Monroe Gouverneur (1803-1850) married her cousin, Samuel L. Gouverneur, on March 8, 1820, and was the first child of a President to be married in the White House.

Elizabeth accompanied her husband when he was appointed to be Minister to France by President George Washington. Life in Paris was anything but dull because the Monroe family was there for the Reign of Terror that came after the onset of the French Revolution. Elizabeth, acting as the wife of the American Minister, helped to secure the release of Madame LaFayette, wife of the Marquis de Lafayette, upon learning of her imprisonment and threatened death by guillotine. The American citizen, Thomas Paine, also found refuge with the Monroe family after his arrest for his opposition to the execution of Louis XVI.

While the Monroe family was in France, Eliza became friends with Hortense de Beauhrnais who was the step-daughter of Napoleon; the girls attended the school of Madam Jeanne Campan, who had previously advised Marie Antoinette in court etiquette. The Monroe family and the Napoleon Bonaparte family were friends.

The Monroe's only son was born in Virginia in 1799 upon their return from France but died in 1801. In 1803 President Thomas Jefferson appointed Monroe to be Minister to Great Britain and to Spain. Their youngest daughter, Maria, was probably born in England in 1803. Monroe was sent back to France in 1804 to negotiate the purchase of Louisiana.

While Monroe was still serving as Ambassador to both Great Britain and Spain in December 1804, James and Elizabeth were invited by Napoleon to attend his coronation in Paris and were part of the delegation from the United States. The family returned to Virginia in 1807.

James was elected to be Virginia Governor in 1811 but served in that office for only four months. He was appointed as Secretary of State in April 1811 and didn't have much to do with the War of 1812. As the war was going badly, President James Madison turned to Monroe and appointed him to be Secretary of War in addition to being Secretary of State. He served in both positions from October 1, 1814, until February 28, 1815, when the peace treaty was ratified. He resigned from the office of Secretary of War and was formally reappointed as Secretary of State. He held this position until he was elected to be President of the United States.

Because James had observed court etiquette during his trips to Europe, he decided to have a strict social attitude in the White House when he became President. Mrs. Monroe suffered from ill health and received only those visitors that she invited to the White House. Her oldest daughter, Eliza Hay, was sent to "pay calls" and served as official White House hostess in place of her ailing mother. People in Washington considered Mrs. Monroe to be "snobbish" until they realized that she was following the wishes of the President in establishing protocol. During her husband's second term in office, Mrs. Monroe's Wednesday receptions were popular events. The Marquis de Lafayette visited the White House on New Year's Day, 1825, and added a touch of splendor to the Monroe's last months there.

Elizabeth Monroe had the unenviable position of following Dolley Madison as First Lady. Mrs. Madison had "captivated" Washington society and set a high standard for all future First Ladies. Considered to be snobbish during her husband's first term in office, Mrs. Monroe regained respect and admiration during his second term.

Mrs. Monroe was sick and suffered several long illnesses until her death on September 23, 1830, in her home (Oak Hill) at age 62. She was interred at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.

Information for this article is from Wikipedia.

Are You Conservative?

2012-02-07T22:00:00.001-09:00

Polls show that there are more conservatives in the United States than there are liberals. Polls also show there are more conservative-leaning independents than there are liberal-leaning independents. There are conservative Republicans and conservative Democrats. There are also fiscal conservatives and social conservatives. There are even conservative movies. The real question is, are you a conservative?

A dictionary definition of the word "conservative" is as follows: "inclined to keep things as they are or were in the past; opposed to change, especially any change in traditions; not inclined to take risks; cautious; moderate; of or belonging to a political party pledged to preserve established traditions and to oppose major changes in national institutions…" (World Book Dictionary, p. 442).

If you are wondering if you are conservative or liberal, you might try this site. I thought I was definitely and completely conservative, but my quiz results say that I am only 80% conservative and 20% liberal. The quiz had some interesting questions where I had to guess.

If you took the quiz and are still questioning whether you are conservative or liberal, StudentNewsDaily.com has a wonderful article comparing conservative beliefs versus liberal beliefs. The article starts, "We all want the same things in life. We want freedom; we want the chance for prosperity; we want as few people suffering as possible; we want healthy children; we want to have crime-free streets. The argument is how to achieve them…." The article then lists 21 different issues from abortion to welfare and gives the liberal and the conservative point-of-view on each. The site is very interesting and informative.

Here is an example from this site by using the comparison about abortion. The liberal viewpoint on abortion is: "A fetus is not a human life, so it does not have separate individual rights. The government should provide taxpayer funded abortions for women who cannot afford them. The decision to have an abortion is a personal choice of a woman regarding her own body and the government must protect this right. Women have the right to affordable, safe and legal abortions, including partial birth abortion."

In comparison, the conservative viewpoint on abortion is: "Human life begins at conception. Abortion is the murder of a human being. An unborn baby, as a living human being, has separate rights from those of the mother. Oppose taxpayer-funded abortion. Taxpayer dollars should not be used for the government to provide abortions. Support legislation to prohibit partial birth abortions, called the `Partial Birth Abortion Ban." (Partial Birth Abortion: the killing of an unborn baby of at least 20 weeks by pulling it out of the birth canal with forceps, but leaving the head inside. An incision is made in the back of the baby's neck and the brain tissue is suctioned out. The head is then removed from the uterus.)

I had a difficult time with the description of a partial birth abortion! As a mother and grandmother, I cannot even imagine doing such a terrible thing to a tiny little baby! These two definitions about abortion show the great difference between the liberal and the conservative viewpoint. I highly recommend that you check out this site for other comparisons.

I found this wonderful video entitled "WhatIs A Conservative?" It gives a commonsense view of America and describes very well what being conservative means.

So, after taking the quiz, reading the comparisons of conservative versus liberal viewpoints, and watching the video, the question remains: Are you conservative?

Greatness of James Monroe

2012-02-06T22:00:00.001-09:00

The name of James Monroe came up in a search for a list of conservative Presidents of the United States; therefore, he is our VIP for this week. Monroe was the fifth President of the United States and the last of the Founders to hold the office. I wrote an article in April 2010 with the facts of the lifeof James Monroe; therefore, I will include few of the facts and more of his accomplishments and quotes.

President Monroe is best remembered for the Monroe Doctrine, proclaimed in 1823. This policy was historic and warned European countries to not interfere with the free nations of the Western Hemisphere. While the war with Napoleon was raging in Europe, Spain gave her American colonies little interest. The colonies took advantage of the situation and declared independence from Spain. Americans had great sympathy with the Latin-American revolutions and began in 1817 to call for recognition of these new countries.

Monroe recommended in March 1822 that they be recognized, and he proclaimed the historic Monroe Doctrine to Congress on December 2, 1823. As part of his speech to Congress, Monroe declared, "The American continents … are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers."

President Monroe also told Congress, "We owe it, therefore, to candor, and to the amicable relations existing between the United States and those powers to declare that we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety. With the existing colonies or dependencies of any European power we … shall not interfere. But with the Government … we could not view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing them, or controlling in any other manner their destiny, by any European power, in any other light than as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States."

The Monroe Doctrine remains a basic American policy today. Since I also wrote an article in April 2010 about the Monroe Doctrine, I will not go into more details about it here.

Monroe came to the presidency after more than 40 years of public service. He began his service to our nation by fighting in the Revolutionary War. He served in the Virginia Assembly and the Congress of the Confederation and as a United States Senator, and as minister to France, Spain, and Great Britain. His service also included governor of Virginia. He obviously was very valuable to our nation during the war of 1812 because he served as both Secretary of State and Secretary of War at the same time.

President Monroe is said to have resembled George Washington, a fellow Virginian. Monroe was tall and rawboned with a military bearing. He had gray-blue eyes, which "invited confidence." Almost everyone spoke well of him.

The years of the Monroe Administration are known generally as "the era of good feeling" due to the fact that nearly everyone belonged to the same political party and the country prospered from "fast growing industries and settlement of the West."

Because the White House was burned by the British during the War of 1812, Monroe and his family maintained a different residence for nine months until the mansion was rebuilt. They held a public reception on New Year's Day, 1818, to celebrate the reopening of the White House.

The Monroe Administration was one of the "most brilliant periods in American diplomacy." In the 1820 election, Monroe ran unopposed for the presidency and received every electoral vote except one.

Information and all above quotes in this article came from an article by Ralph Ketcham in World Book Encyclopedia, Vol. 13, pp. 734-738.

President Monroe was noted for a number of famous quotes during his years of public service. Wikipedia listed only a few of them.

"It is only when the people become ignorant and corrupt, when they degenerate into a populace, that they are incapable of exercising their sovereignty. Usurpation is then an easy attainment, and an usurper soon found. The people themselves become the willing instruments of their own debasement and ruin."

"Peace and good will have been, and will hereafter be, cultivated with all, and by the most faithful regard to justice. They have been dictated by a love of peace, of economy, and an earnest desire to save the lives of our fellow-citizens from that destruction and our country from that devastation which are inseparable from war when it finds us unprepared for it."

"The best form of government is that which is most likely to prevent the greatest sum of evil."

"Never did a government commence under auspices so favorable, nor ever was success so complete. If we look to the history of other nations, ancient or modern, we find no example of a growth so rapid, so gigantic, of a people so prosperous and happy."

"Such, then, being the highly favored condition of our country, it is in the interest of every citizen to maintain it. What are the dangers which menace us? If any exist, they ought to be ascertained and guarded against."

"We must support our rights or lose our character, and with it, perhaps, our liberties. A people who fail to do it can scarcely be said to hold a place among independent nations. National honor is national property of the highest value. The sentiment in the mind of every citizen is national strength. It ought therefore to be cherished."

No Direct Taxes

2012-02-05T22:00:00.002-09:00

The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday comes from Article I.9.4: "No … direct Tax shall be laid [unless in Proportion to the Census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken.]" This provision in the Constitution guaranteed that no citizen, no matter where they lived, would have any direct taxes levied against their person or property except in proportion to the population of their state.

"A direct tax is one which is levied against a person (head tax), his property (property tax), or his income (personal income tax). Notice that in all of these the taxpayer must pay `directly.' In other words, he cannot pass the tax along to anyone else.

"On the other hand, an `indirect' tax is one which is placed on finished goods or those in process of being manufactured. Any tax paid by the manufacturer or distributor is passed on to the consumer. This means that the only person actually paying the tax is the consumer. He may not realize it, but he has paid the tax `indirectly.' For this reason, the many hidden taxes on a loaf of bread or other staples are paid for by the consumer `indirectly.' However, when he pays a poll tax, property tax, or income tax, he is paying taxes directly." (See W. Cleon Skousen in The Making of America - The Substance and Meaning of the Constitution, pp. 478-479.)

When I first read the above information, I wondered why I have to pay income taxes. It appears that this clause in the Constitution was amended in 1913 with the passage of the Sixteenth Amendment: "The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration."

"Direct taxes, which were expected to be used only in emergencies, did not have the built-in protections characteristic of indirect taxes. Direct taxes were imposed directly on individuals, who, it was assumed, could not shift their liability to others. If a tax was not indirect, the Framers thought it should be apportioned. Capitation and land taxes were direct under this understanding, but so might other taxes be, whether known in 1787 or not. If nothing else, a broader understanding of `direct taxes' should require that the constitutional character of any proposed tax be studied before it is enacted in an unapportioned form." (See Erik M. Jensen in The Heritage Guide to the Constitution, p. 160.)

Adversity and Growth

2012-02-04T22:00:00.003-09:00

Have you ever wondered why bad things happen to good people? Adversity comes to everyone at one time or another to test us and to try us. We can avoid some bad things, but we cannot avoid all tests and trials. Understanding why we experience adversity and how to prepare for future bad times can help us to learn and grow from our adversities.

"Diane Ellingson loved gymnastics. She worked hard to develop her talent, and she won national (United States) championships while she was in high school and college. She was planning to participate in a national gymnastics tour with several famous gymnasts, but during practice for that tour she came off a vault and landed wrong, breaking her neck. The injury paralyzed her. She would never participate in gymnastics again; she would never even be able to walk again.

"Diane spent months in the hospital after her accident. During the first few months, she felt despair and frustration. She received a priesthood blessing, which did not promise her that she would be healed but did bring her great peace. Finally she realized, `I can either give up or get on with my life.' She learned to use a wheelchair and take care of herself again. After she got out of the hospital, she went back to college, graduated, and became an elementary school teacher. She also gives talks to young people to help them overcome discouragement and adversity. Diane says, `People always think, "You're so amazing, you're so incredible,"' but I'm not…. You have to take whatever life gives you and deal with it, even if you might not want to…. You just learn and that's what's so great about time and the healing process. You don't have to be miraculous." (See Kendra Kasl Phair, "A Champion Again," New Era, Nov. 1988, 21-25; see also Renon Klossner Hulet, "Matters of Balance," Ensign, Dec. 1992, 63.)

When Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, they did not experience any sorrow, pain, sickness or death. They did not worry about work because food grew without any effort from them. After Eve, and then Adam, partook of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they were cast out of the Garden of Eden and came to know a much different kind of life. They had to work very hard in order to have food, clothing, shelter and other necessary items. They also became subject to sorrow, pain, sickness and death.

Our lives are very much like those of Adam and Eve. We too must work very hard for the necessities of life, and we too experience sorrow, pain, sickness, and death. When we used our agency and chose to come to earth to receive a physical body and gain experience, we also chose to face adversity. Every person that has ever lived on earth has had to deal with adversity. Our tests and trials may be different, but we all have them.

Why does adversity have to be a part of our mortal existence? Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints explained: "Trials, disappointments, sadness, and heartache come to us from two basically different sources. Those who transgress the laws of God will always have those challenges. The other reason for adversity is to accomplish the Lord's own purposes in our life that we may receive the refinement that comes from testing…. [Some trials] are evidence that the Lord feels you are prepared to grow more" (Ensign, Nov. 1995, 16).

Elder Scott explained that adversity comes from "two basically different sources" - sin and refinement. We can avoid most if not all of the adversity that comes from disobedience to the commandments of God simply by making good and righteous choices. We can avoid many causes of bad health and addictions merely by obedience to the Word of Wisdom. We can avoid many family problems and quarrels by being loving and unselfish. We can avoid all the problems of guilt and legal punishments by obedience to the laws of the land. These are only a few of the kinds of adversity that we can avoid by making good choices.

If our adversity comes as a result of sin, the only way to get rid of or reduce the adversity is to repent of the sin. There are times when adversity comes into the life of an innocent person because another person exercises his or her agency and chooses to sin. We cannot avoid this kind of adversity because each person is free to choose his or her own actions.

Other kinds of adversity might come into our lives regardless of the choices we make. No one chooses to develop a disease or disability. Most people do their best to avoid injuries. Many financial losses that come through accidents or from weather-related sources cannot be avoided. We have all been disappointed when we didn't receive some blessing or desired opportunity.

Although we cannot choose to avoid many tests and trials, we are still free to choose whether and how we will react to them or whether we will be proactive about them. If we consider our tests and trials as opportunities to learn and grow, adversity can actually become a blessing in our lives.

Jacob, the son of Lehi, suffered many trials and great sorrows because of the "rudeness" of his older brothers. Lehi explained to Jacob why we need opposition.

"For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my first-born in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility" (2 Nephi 2:11).

Adversity helps us to appreciate our blessings just as sickness helps us to cherish good health. Dreary, dark and rainy days make us appreciate bright sunshine. Hot, arid weather makes us appreciate the cooling rain. Sub-arctic temperatures help us to better appreciate normal winter weather.

When we are in the midst of adversity, we sometimes forget our blessings. It is difficult for us to remember that tests and trials may be for our own good. It may be helpful to make a list of trials and the lessons learned during those tests. I'll share an example from my own life to show why this exercise could be helpful. I hurt my lower back in February 2011 and received no relief at all until fall. Although my back was slowly recovering, it was not until early January that I truly recognized the difference. I was at Costco pushing a heavily-laden cart across the parking lot when I realized that my back didn't hurt at all. I was so very grateful that I sent a silent "thank you" heaven-ward rather than waiting until I could get on my knees! Another example would be my new-found appreciation for all the snow. I was searching for a reason to appreciate the snow when this thought came to me: The deep snow insulates the ground from the sub-zero temperatures and keeps the frost from going deeper into the ground.

When we face adversity, it is helpful to remember that Heavenly Father loves us and knows what is best for us. While we may not understand how a particular trial or experience can be for our good, Heavenly Father does understand, and He will help us to understand in his own time and way.

Elder Hugh B. Brown, while a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, told the following story: "I was living up in Canada. I had purchased a farm…. I went out one morning and saw a currant bush. It had grown up over six feet high. It was going all to wood. There were no blossoms and no currants. I was raised on a fruit farm… and I knew what ought to happen to that currant bush. So I got some pruning shears and went after it, and I cut it down, and pruned it, and clipped it back until there was nothing left but a little clump of stumps. It was just coming daylight, and I thought I saw on top of each of these little stumps what appeared to be a tear, and I thought the currant bush was crying…. I looked at it, and smiled, and said, `What are you crying about?' You know, I thought I heard that currant bush talk, and I thought I heard it say this: `How could you do this to me? I was making such wonderful growth. I was almost as big as the shade tree and the fruit tree that are inside the fence, and now you have cut me down.' … I said, `Look, little currant bush, I am the gardener here, and I know what I want you to be. I didn't intend you to be a fruit tree or a shade tree. I want you to be a currant bush, and some day, little currant bush, when you are laden with fruit, you are going to say, "`"Thank you, Mr. Gardener"'." (See "The Currant Bush," New Era, Jan. 1973, 14.)

The gardener showed his concerned for the currant bush by cutting it back so it could reach its full potential as a currant bush. Heavenly Father is the gardener in our lives, and sometimes he cuts us back in order that we can become what He wants us to be.

Elder Brown followed the story about the currant bush with a similar story from his own life. He had been bitterly disappointed when he was denied a military promotion for the simple reason that he was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Years later, he looked back, and realized that his life was better than it would have been if he had received that promotion. He was a stronger member of the Church and more the person that Heavenly Father wanted him to be.

I know that Heavenly Father loves us and knows what is best for each of us. If we strive to live righteously and learn as we endure our trials, these adversities will be for our good and help us become the people Heavenly Father wants us to be.

Jesus Christ taught us how to avoid many kinds of adversity: "Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

"And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

"And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

"And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it" (Matthew 7:24-27).

Why did one house stand and one house fall when both houses endured the same storms? The difference between the houses was in their foundations. The house that was built on a rock was able to weather the storms, but the house that was built on the sand was without a firm foundation.

Common sense tells us that it is wiser to build our houses on rock than on the sand because strong houses need sure foundations. Lest there be any doubt about the rock described by Christ, an ancient-American prophet named Helaman instructed his sons: "And now my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall" (Book of Mormon - Another Testament of Jesus Christ, Helaman 5:12).

When the Savior spoke about building our houses on a rock, He of course was telling us to build our lives on his teachings and on the principles of his gospel. We do not know what kinds of adversity may come our way, but we can prepare and strengthen ourselves and our families to face difficult times.

Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles stated: "Life never was intended to be easy. Rather, it is a period of proving and growth. It is interwoven with difficulties, challenges, and burdens…. Yet these very forces, if squarely faced, provide opportunity for tremendous personal growth and development. The conquering of adversity produces strength of character, forges self-confidence, engenders self-respect, and assures success in righteous endeavor." (See Ensign, Nov. 1981, 11.)

Everyone will face adversity. We knew before we even came to earth that we would be tested and tried. We can better prepare for and deal with adversity if we realize that we were willing to endure adversity in order to have the mortal experience. The best way to prepare for adversity is to build our house upon the rock of Jesus Christ, meaning to keep his commandments and live according to the doctrines and principles of his gospel.

When the Prophet Joseph Smith cried out to the Lord from the depths of his adversity and afflictions while in the Liberty Jail, the Lord told him: "And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good" (Doctrine and Covenants 122:7; italics added.)

Sincere and frequent prayer helps us to endure adversity. We can prepare for adversity by making personal prayer a part of our daily lives. When I find myself in a difficult situation, I remember the words of the Lord to Joseph Smith and keep repeating, "This will give me experience and be for my good!" I also ask myself often, "What can I learn from this experience?" Another good question is, "What is there about this situation that I can be grateful for?"

I know that adversity can help us gain more knowledge, grow stronger, and become better people, and that our experience will be for our good if we handle it positively. Let us treat our tests and trials as opportunities to learn and grow!

Spheres of Influence

2012-02-03T22:00:00.001-09:00

Families grow stronger when we recognize that we all live within two spheres or circles - our circle of concern and our sphere of influence. We strengthen our families when we concentrate on those things that we can actually do something about rather than worrying about all those things in the world that concern us.

Stephen R. Covey wrote in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families: "The Circle of Concern is a large circle that embraces everything in your life that you may be concerned about. The Circle of Influence is a smaller circle within the Circle of Concern that embraces the things you can actually do something about.

"The reactive tendency is to focus on the Circle of Concern, but this only causes the inner Circle of Influence to be diminished. The nature of energy focused on the outer Circle of Concern is negative. And when you combine that negative energy with neglect of the Circle of Influence, inevitably the Circle of Influence gets smaller.

"But proactive people focus on their Circle of Influence. As a result, that circle increases….

"One of the best ways to tell whether you're in your Circle of Influence or Circle of Concern is to listen to your own language. If you're in your Circle of Concern, your language will be blaming, accusing, reactive.

"If you're in your Circle of Influence, your language will be proactive. It will reflect a focus on the things you can do something about."

Each of us has a circle of influence or sphere of action. The following information is from a lesson I taught in Relief Society a few weeks ago; therefore, it will be directed towards women - daughters, wives, mothers, etc. That does not however say that males cannot learn from this material. I took the bulk of my lesson from a chapter in Daughters in My Kingdom entitled "A Wide and Extensive Sphere of Action". I found the material to be very interesting, especially in light of my understanding about Covey's circle of influence.

The information in the two books reminded me of the "Serenity Prayer" of Saint Francis: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."

One of the comments during my lesson made an impact on me. A sister reminded me that a "circle" is one-dimensional while a "sphere" is multi-dimensional. It is important for all of us to remember that our influence is felt by many different people with many different problems and in many different areas of our lives. It is particularly critical that we remember this fact as we interact within our families. We can get so caught up worrying about all the things that are happening in our communities and nation (circle of concern) that we are too busy or too paralyzed to operate within our sphere of influence - accomplishing those things within our family that we can actually do something about.

The Relief Society of Nauvoo was organized with twenty women on March 17, 1842, and grew to eleven hundred women within six months. The sisters of Relief Society did much to strengthen their families and this society until the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were murdered on June 27, 1844, and the Saints were driven out of Nauvoo. The sisters continued to bring relief wherever they could as they moved across the Plains, but there were no formal Relief Society meetings until twenty years after the Saints entered the Salt Lake Valley in 1847.

On December 26, 1866, President Brigham Young expressed his desire to reestablish Relief Society. The next year he felt increased urgency to assist the bishops in their responsibility to find those who were in need. He told the bishops to organize Relief Societies in their wards and to give the sisters "the benefit of your wisdom and experience, give them your influence, guide and direct them wisely and well, and they will find rooms for the poor and obtain the means for supporting them ten times quicker than even the Bishop could" (p 41).

President Young called Eliza R. Snow to travel throughout the Utah Territory to help the bishops organize Relief Societies. Sister Snow was especially capable of doing this task because she was one of the original twenty members of Relief Society. As the secretary of the organization, she kept detailed minutes of the meetings, especially the instructions that Joseph Smith gave to the sisters. She took her minute book when she left Nauvoo, and she kept it safe all the way across the Plains and for nearly twenty years after arriving in the Valley. "She understood the importance of what had been taught to the sisters in those meetings. She knew how the society should be structured, and she remembered the principles upon which it was established. She understood that the organization [for the women] was a fundamental part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."

Sister Snow explained that "It is no ordinary thing to meet in an organization of this nature. This organization belongs to the organization of the Church of Christ, in all dispensations when it is in perfection." She also said, "If any of the daughters and mothers in Israel are feeling in the least [limited] in their present spheres, they will now find ample scope for every power and capability for doing good with which they are most liberally endowed. … President Young has turned the key to a wide and extensive sphere of action and usefulness" (p 44).

Sister Snow spent much time and traveled many miles to teach the sisters to enlarge their spheres of action. Charity continued to be the foundation of all things, both spiritual and physical, in the work the sisters accomplished. They delighted in doing the right things and to deal rightly to others in kindness, love, and charity to all.

Through the reorganization of the Relief Society, the sisters were taught to turn from worldly influences - frivolous and immodest behavior and clothing - and to set themselves apart from the rest of the world in good and righteous ways. They were taught that individuals could receive personal revelation from God to guide them in their personal lives and in their family and Church responsibilities. They were taught to "seek for wisdom instead of power and they will have all the power they have wisdom to exercise" (45). The sisters were taught to defend marriage and their way of life while living the law of plural marriage. Sister Snow said, "It was high time [to] rise up in the dignity of our calling and speak for ourselves…. The world does not know us, and truth and justice to our brethren and to ourselves demands us to speak…. We are not inferior to the ladies of the world, and we do not want to appear so" (p 47).

In the late 1860s the

United States

government passed legislation forbidding polygamous marriages, began imprisoning men who had plural wives, and threatened to confiscate all Church property if plural marriage did not come to an end. President Wilford Woodruff went to the Lord in 1890 about the problem and received a revelation that led to the Church's discontinuance of the practice of plural marriage. He wrote this revelation in a document known as the Manifesto and said, "The God of heaven commanded me to do what I did do; and when the hour came that I was commanded to do that, it was all clear to me. I went before the Lord, and I wrote what the Lord told me to write."

"The women of the Church who, by revelation, embraced plural marriage and who, by revelation, later accepted the Manifesto are worthy of admiration and appreciation. They were strictly obedient to their covenants and the counsel of the living prophet. Today these women are honored by their faithful posterity" (p 48).

Helen Mar Whitney, who lived the law of plural marriage, wrote, "We may read the history of martyrs and mighty conquerors, and of many great and good men and women, but that of the noble women and fair daughters of Zion, whose faith in the promises of Israel's God enabled them to triumph over self and obey His higher law, and assist His servants to establish it upon the earth, … I feel sure there was kept by the angels an account of their works which will yet be found in the records of eternity, written in letters of gold" (p 49).

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints still believe in the principle of plural marriage, but no faithful members of the Church practice plural marriage today and no faithful members have done so since 1890. One of the important tenets of our faith is that we believe in "obeying, honoring and sustaining the law" of the land.

Relief Society sisters and priesthood brethren today are involved in defending marriage - the lawful and legal union of one man and one woman. We must be as fearless in defending this type of marriage as our pioneer sisters were in defending plural marriage. One of the best places we can do this in within our sphere of influence - our family and friends.

The sisters were also taught the importance of knowing the scriptures and being able to expound our beliefs articulately. President Spencer W. Kimball said, "I stress … the deep need each woman has to study the scriptures. We want our homes to be blessed with sister scriptorians - whether you are single or married, young or old, widowed or living in a family.

"Regardless of your particular circumstances, as you become more and more familiar with the truths of the scriptures, you will be more and more effective in keeping the second great commandment, to love your neighbor as yourself. Become scholars of the scriptures - not to put others down, but to lift them up! After all, who has any greater need to `treasure up' the truths of the gospel (on which they may call in their moments of need) than do women and mothers who do so much nurturing and teaching?"

President Kimball testified that women who "reflect righteousness and articulateness in their lives" will become a powerful influence for good upon the "good women of the world" (p 50).

The Relief Society sisters were counseled to become temporally self-reliant and to learn skills that would help them to take care of all their needs. The sisters were to fulfill their duties at home with their husbands and children as well as to gain sewing skills and learn how to store and use food correctly. They were encouraged to become educated and even earn degrees in medicine. The sisters were encouraged to be politically active. The women of the Utah Territory were granted the right to vote in February 1870. At that time, the only other place in the United States where women could vote was in the Wyoming Territory. The right for women to vote was rescinded by the federal government as part of the punishment for continuing to live the law of plural marriage. Even though the women could not vote, they remained vocal and articulate about their rights and regained their voting rights when Utah became a state. They also earned the respect of other women's movements in the United States and other parts of the world.

The Relief Society supported a newspaper titled the Woman's Exponent, which was written for Latter-day Saint women to help them learn about their work, their lives, and their history. This newspaper was discontinued in 1914 after 42 years of publication; the next year the Relief Society began publishing the Relief Society Magazine. I remember well this magazine coming to our home because it had wonderful stories in it. I often read the stories before my mother even saw the magazine!

The sisters of Relief Society were encouraged to be involved in teaching and training children and young women and were instrumental in strengthening the rising generation. In 1880 President John Taylor extended callings to sisters for general presidencies in three different organizations: the Relief Society for the women, a Young Women's society for teenage girls, and the Primary organization for children under age twelve.

The reestablishment of the Relief Society blessed the lives of Latter-day Saint women and led to greater responsibilities and greater opportunities for them. Sister Snow declared: "Don't you see that our sphere is increasing? Our sphere of action will continually widen, and no woman in Zion need[s] to mourn because her sphere is too narrow.

"God bless you, my sisters, and encourage you, that you may be filled with light, and realize that you have no interests but in the welfare of Zion. Let your first business be to perform your duties at home. But, inasmuch as you are wise stewards, you will find time for social duties, because these are incumbent upon us as daughters and mothers in Zion. By seeking to perform every duty you will find that your capacity will increase, and you will be astonished at what you can accomplish" (pp 58-59).

President Lorenzo Snow counseled many years later: "This is what we desire to instill in the hearts of the sisters - to be useful in their sphere and not be discouraged because of difficulties in the way, but trust in God and look to Him, and His marvelous blessings, I will promise you, will be poured out upon you" (p 43).

Our sphere of influence may be only our home. If we do our work well enough, our children will leave our home well prepared to take their place in the world and to influence all those who come within their spheres of action. My sphere of influence has grown much larger since my children became adults and have homes of their own. I still have influence over my children, but I also can influence their children and by extension those who meet my children and grandchildren. My sphere of influence will continue to grow throughout eternity as long as I focus on those things I actually can do something about. In this way, I can continue to help my family to grow stronger.

Political Power

2012-02-02T22:00:00.000-09:00

The topic of discussion for this Freedom Friday is that the ideal circumstances for freedom is for the political power to be in the center and not either far "right" or far "left." Our Founding Fathers had a way to measure the political power of any selected type of government that is different than the "yardstick" we use today. The Founders did not measure political issues in the terms we use today. When we think of Democrats being on the left and Republicans being on the right or in terms of leftist or rightist, do we really understand what we are talking about?

The terms "Left" and "Right" refer to the way the various parties are seated in the European parliaments. The radical revolutionaries sit on the far left, and the military dictators sit on the far right; all other parties sit somewhere in the middle. The people in the farthest left group are usually communists, and the people in the farthest right group are usually fascists - even though communists and fascists are simply two different names for the police state and are practically identical.

Government is considered to be a "system for ruling or controlling." Since the Founders understood this meaning of the word, they realized that the yardstick to measure any system of government was political power. The Founders took their imaginary yardstick and marked one end anarchy and the other end tyranny. The Founders considered anarchy to be the name or description of no government, no law, and no control, and they considered tyranny to be the opposite extreme or too much government, control, and oppression. The Founders wanted to establish a government that was mid-way between the two extremes; they wanted a system where there was "enough government to maintain security, justice, and good order, but not enough government to abuse the people."

Our Founders wanted their fellow Americans to recognize the "subversive characteristics of oppressive Ruler's Law which they identified primarily with a tyrannical monarchy. Here are its basic characteristics: 1) Authority under Ruler's Law is nearly always established by force, violence and conquest. 2) Therefore, all sovereign power is considered to be in the conqueror or his descendants. 3) The people are not equal, but are divided into classes, and are all looked upon as subjects of the king. 4) The entire country is considered to be the property of the ruler, who speaks of it as his `realm.' 5) The thrust of government power is from the top down, not from the people upward. 6) The people have no unalienable rights. The King giveth and the King taketh away. 7) Government is by the whims of men, not by the fixed rule of law which the people need in order to govern the affairs with confidence. 8) The Ruler issues edicts which are called `The Law,' who then interprets the law and enforces it, thus maintaining tyrannical control over the people. 9) Problems are always solved by issuing more edicts or laws, setting up more bureaus, harassing the people with more regulators, and charging the people for these `services' by continually adding to their burden of taxes. 10) Freedom is never looked upon as a viable solution to anything. 11) The long history of Ruler's Law is one of blood and terror, both anciently and in modern times. Under it, the people are stratified into an aristocracy of the Ruler's retinue while the law to the common people is one of perpetual poverty, excessive taxation, stringent regulations and a continuous existence of misery."

When I read through those characteristics for a tyrannical monarchy, I realized that our government is slowly - and lately not so slowly - moving towards tyranny. Our government has not yet conquered us by force or violence, but more and more the people in Washington, D.C., considered themselves to be more knowledgeable and better than the common citizen. President Obama works at keeping the citizenry divided between races, between economic levels, between education levels, etc. The continual increase in regulations is forcing the government to be from the top down rather than people up. Our rights are being steadily eroded in the name of "security." The Constitution apparently doesn't mean much to the Obama Administration, and our President rules by Executive Order or "recess" appointments and not by law.

While typing this article, I've been thinking about the differences between the American Revolution and the French Revolution. The American Revolution consisted of the people rising up against tyranny, establishing independence, and then organizing a government "of the people by the people and for the people." The French Revolution became anarchy with no law, no control, and no government. Control and more tyranny came to France in the name of a conqueror.

As Americans we need to measure the political power in our nation by the "yardstick" used by the Founders. Do you think we are moving towards tyranny or anarchy? What do you think is the best way to keep our government in the center where the political power is in the people? When the political power is in the center with the people, there is total freedom.

Many of the ideas and all of the quotes for this article are from W. Cleon Skousen in The Five Thousand Year Leap - 28 Great Ideas That Changed the World, pp 11-12. If you do not yet own a copy of this book, I suggest that you purchase a copy of it as soon as your finances will permit. This book is very informative as to the principles of freedom and will increase your knowledge of freedom. Any group of people who desires freedom should at least know what freedom is!

Nancy Davis Reagan

2012-02-01T22:00:00.001-09:00

Nancy Reagan was a perfect wife for Ronald Reagan, and they seemed to have a very happy marriage for more than fifty years. "Observers described Ronald and Nancy Reagan's relationship as intimate. As president and first lady, the Reagans were reported to display their affection frequently, with one press secretary noting, `They never took each other for granted. They never stopped courting.' Ronald often called Nancy `Mommy'; she called him `Ronnie'. While the President was recuperating in the hospital after the 1981 assassination attempt, Nancy Reagan wrote in her diary, `Nothing can happen to my Ronnie. My life would be over.' In a letter to Nancy, Ronald wrote, whatever I treasure and enjoy … all would be without meaning if I didn't have you.' In 1998, while here husband was afflicted with Alzheimer's disease, Nancy told Vanity Fair, `Our relationship is very special. We were very much in love and still are. When I say my life began with Ronnie, well, it's true. It did. I can't imagine life without him.' Nancy was known for the focused and attentive look, termed `the Gaze', that she fastened upon her husband during his speeches and appearances. President Reagan's death in June 2004 ended what Charlton Heston called `the greatest love affair in the history of theAmerican Presidency." (Wikipedia)

Nancy was born as Anne Frances Robbins on July 6, 1921, in New York, and was the only child of her parents who divorced soon after her birth. Her father, Kenneth Seymour Robbins (1894-1972), was a car salesman, and her mother, Edith Luckett (1888-1987), was an actress. Nancy lived in York until she was about two and then lived with an aunt and uncle in Maryland while her mother traveled the country to pursue an acting career. When Edith had a job in New York, Nancy's aunt would take her by train to stay with her mother.

In 1929 when Nancy was about eight years old, her mother married Loyal Davis (1896-1982) who was "prominent, politically conservative neurosurgeon. The family moved to Chicago, and Nancy got along well with her stepfather. She later wrote that he was "a man of great integrity who exemplified old-fashioned values". Davis legally adopted Nancy in 1935, and she always considered him to be her father. Since Anne Frances had been commonly known since birth as Nancy, her name was legally changed at the time of her adoption to Nancy Davis.

Nancy Davis attended the Girls' Latin School of Chicago where she was an average student. After her graduation she attended Smith College in Massachusetts where she majored in English and drama. She graduated in 1943 and worked in Chicago as a sales clerk in a department store and as a nurse's aide. With the help of her mother's colleagues in theatre - that included Spencer Tracy - Nancy became a professional actress. Her first part as an actress was a part in Zasu Pitts' 1945 road tour of Ramshackle Inn. She moved to New York City where she landed the role as a lady-in-waiting in Lute Song, a 1946 Broadway musical about the Orient that starred Mary Martin and Yul Brynner (before he was a star). She passed a screen test, moved to California, and signed a seven-year-contract with Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios (MGM) in 1949. She considered this experience as "walking into her dream world". She was usually typecast as a "loyal housewife", "responsible young mother", or "the steady woman" and competed for roles at MGM with Jane Powell, Debbie Reynolds, Leslie Caron, and Janet Leigh. Nancy had an interesting and successful career in acting.

Nancy dated many actors during her days in Hollywood, including Clark Gable, Robert Stack, and Peter Lawford. She met Ronald Reagan on November 15, 1949 while he was president of the Screen Actors Guild. Her name had appeared on the Hollywood blacklist, and she went to Reagan for help in removing her name from the list as well as maintaining her employment as a guild actress in Hollywood. Reagan told Nancy that she had been confused with another actress with the same name. The two started dating, which caused their relationship to be the subject of many gossip columns. One such account described their relationship as "the romance of a couple who have no vices".

Reagan was not looking to marry again because of his painful divorce from Jane Wyman in 1948 and continued to date other women. Ronald dated Nancy for three years before he proposed to her; they married on March 4, 1952, in a simple ceremony at the Little Brown Church in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. William Holden and his wife, actress Brenda Marshall, were the only people in attendance and served as best man and matron of honor. Ronald and Nancy became parents of two children - Patricia Ann Reagan (known professionally by Patti Davis) and Ronald Prescott Reagan. Nancy also became stepmother to Maureen Reagan and Michael Reagan, children of Reagan's first marriage to Jane Wyman. The relationships between Nancy and her children and/or stepchildren were never as close as her relationship with her husband and were often controversial.

Nancy served as First Lady of California while her husband was Governor Reagan from 1967 to 1975, but she disliked living in Sacramento because it "lacked the excitement, social life, and mile climate" of Los Angeles. After living in the California Governor's Mansion for four months, fire officials labeled the mansion to be a "firetrap." The Reagan family rented a home in a wealthy suburb at their own expense but were viewed as "snobbish" by many people. Nancy supervised the construction of a new ranch-style Governor's Mansion, which was finished just as Governor Reagan left office. The house was sold in 1982 because Jerry Brown, Reagan's successor, refused to live there, and California's governors have been living in "improvised arrangements" every since. While her husband was Governor, Nancy began her work with the Foster Grandparents Program.

Although Nancy felt that Ronald was the right man to be President of the United States, she was reluctant for him to join the 1976 presidential campaign because she was worried about his health and career. She eventually approved of the idea and supported her husband by "holding coffees, luncheons, and talks with senior citizens." She "oversaw personnel, monitored her husband's schedule, and occasionally provided press conferences."

Reagan lost the 1976 Republican nomination but ran for the presidency again in 1980. This time he succeeded in winning the nomination and election. Nancy's influence on her husband during this campaign was very noticeable, and "her presence at rallies, luncheons, and receptions increased his confidence."

After Reagan was inaugurated in January 1981, Nancy was often compared to Jackie Kennedy, and she restored the formal glamour of Kennedy years to the White House after the less formal years of the Carter Administration. She also faced much criticism for purchasing new china, making renovations in the White House, expensive clothing, and attending the wedding of Charles and Diana, Prince and Princess of Wales. People thought she was "out of touch with the American people because the nation was in an economic recession, and she was sometimes referred to as "Queen Nancy".

Early in the Reagan Administration Nancy was criticized because she wanted to make some renovations in the White House to make it a "more suitable" as the "first home" because the building was in a "state of disrepair" because of "years of neglect." Michael Deaver, an aide in the White House, described the second and third floor family residence as having "cracked plaster walls, chipped paint [and] beaten up floors." Since the nation had been in a fairly severe recession during the Carter Administration, Nancy sought private donations for the renovation and redecoration rather than use government funds. The major renovation was directed by Nancy and included all of the second and third floors as well as some rooms adjacent to the Oval Office. During the renovation walls were repainted, floors were refinished, fireplaces were repaired, and antique pipes, windows, and wires were replaced. Some White House antiques were taken out of storage and placed throughout the mansion. Nancy said, "This house belongs to all Americans, and I want it to be something of which they can be proud."

Nancy was also criticized for ordering new state china for the White House. Nancy felt that the White House needed new china "really badly, badly needs china." The last time that a full china serve had been purchased was during the Truman Administration in the 1940s even though the Johnson Administration purchased a partial service in the 1960. Nancy worked with Lenox, an American porcelain manufacturer, and chose a "design scheme of a red with etched gold band, bordering the scarlet and cream colored ivory plates with a raised presidential seal etched in gold in the center. The full service included 4,370 pieces (19 pieces per individual set) and cost $209,508. The china was paid for by private donations, but Nancy was criticized for spending so much money.

Red was Nancy's favorite color, and it was worn often. Nancy wore red so often that the shade used for fire engines became known as "Reagan red." She was very interested in fashion and social life, and her sense of style was compared to that of Jackie Kennedy. Nancy's dresses, gowns, and suits were made by luxury designers. It is said that the overall price for the outfit she wore to the 1981 inaugural was $25,000 with $10,000 for the gown. The Reagans did not purchase all of the fancy duds worn by Nancy because some of the elegant fashions were borrowed; they would be returned later or donated to museums. This too was a controversial subject, but the American fashion industry considered the First Lady to be good for their business.

Gerald Ford favored the Michigan fight song over "Hail to the Chief," and Jimmy Carter dramatically reduced the formality of presidential functions. The Reagan Administration brought back the glamour of the Kennedy White House and hosted fifty-six state dinners over eight years. George and Laura Bush hosted six.

Nancy was always protective of her husband and even more so after the 1981 attempt to assassinate him. She created more controversy when she revealed in 1988 that she received assistant in planning the President's schedule. Nancy had a strong influence on President Reagan and had a role in a few of his personal and diplomatic decisions.

At the end of the Reagan Administration in 1989, the President and Nancy retired to their home in Bel Air, Los Angeles, California. President Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 1994 and publicly disclosed his illness. Nancy devoted her time and energy in caring for President Reagan until his death in 2004. She remains active with the Reagan Library, in politics, and in supporting stem-cell research.

I really like President Reagan and his First Lady. They came to the White House following four very dark years of the Carter Administration. They were leaders first, but they were good examples for the American way of life. I was always very pleased that they were our First Couple.

Facts and quotes are from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Reagan

State of Union

2012-01-31T22:00:00.002-09:00

President Barack Obama delivered the annual State of the Union address on January 24, 2012, from the U.S. Capital. I did not watch him on television because I cannot stand to see his haughtiness and arrogance; I did however listen to the speech on the radio in spite of the fact that he was lying to us most of the time. I do not trust the man or his advisors. It was obvious that he described the Union as he sees it and not how the average U.S. citizen sees it.

The "Morning Bell" from the Heritage Foundation noted: "… The President essentially redelivered his 2011 State of the Union address - complete with the same empty rhetoric, class warfare cloaked in `fairness,' and proposals for massive tax and spending increases.

"The speech was notable for the items he did not mention, including many of the failed spending programs and policies he undertook over the past three years, the foreign policy and defense challenges he has exacerbated, and the economic actions he failed to take that would have created jobs and spurred economic growth."

Even though President Obama omitted some important facts, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels did mention some of them in his Republican response to the State of the Union address. "The percentage of Americans with a job is at the lowest in decades. One in five men of prime working age, and nearly half of all persons under 30, did not go to work today.

"In three short years, an unprecedented explosion of spending, with borrowed money, has added trillions to an already unaffordable national debt. And yet, the President has put us on a course to make it radically worse in the years ahead. The federal government now spends one of every four dollars in the entire economy; it borrows one of every three dollars it spends."

President Obama tends to refer to himself and his accomplishments in his speeches. The State of the Union address was no exception to this tendency. The "Chronicle" from the Patriot Post noticed this tendency also: "To sum up the SOTU: `I went … I know … M … My … I took office … I'm president … I will work … I intend … I will oppose … I want to speak … I took office … I refused … told me … My message … Send me … I'll sign … I set … I signed … I will go … I will not stand … It's not fair … I'm announcing … I promise you … I also hear … I want … Join me … My administration … I want to cut … I call on … I spoke … let me put … I believe … my administration … I took office … I will sign … I'm directing … my administration … I'm requiring … I will not walk away … I will not walk away … I will not cede … I will … I'm directing … I'm proud … Send me … I will sign … I'm sending … I've approved … my presidency … I've ordered … I guess … I'm confident … I will not back down … I will not back down … I will not go back … I will not go back … I'm asking … fair play … So do I … I told … I'm prepared … fair share … my fair share … I get tax breaks I don't need … I recognize … I bet … I've talked … Send me a bill … I will sign … I ask the Senate … I've asked … I'm a Democrat … I believe … my education reform … I will keep taking …I can do … I have no doubt … I will take … I'm president … I intend … I have proposed … I have already … I'm proposing … brings me … my proudest … I sat … I look at … I'm reminded.'" The "Chronicle" also included the statement: "The speech also sounded a lot like last year's."

Tea Party Patriots had their own response to the President's 2012 State of the Union address. Their message to the President is: "The time is now to pass a budget, stop deficit spending, make real spending cuts and repeal government controlled healthcare!" Their message to the nation is: "We continue to grow, and we ask you to join us. We will take back our country for liberty in 2012!"

Charles Johnson's article about the State of theUnion address pointed out just one of the inconsistencies in the speech. "Last night President Obama renewed his calls for a so-called `middle class tax' cut that would all but kill Social Security:

`Right now, our most immediate priority is stopping a tax hike on 160 million working Americans while the recovery is still fragile. People cannot afford losing $40 out of each paycheck this year. There are plenty of ways to get this done. So let's agree right here, right now: No side issues. No drama. Pass the payroll tax cut without delay.'

"And yet only two paragraphs later, he said this: `Alas, in calling for a renewed payroll tax holiday, President Obama continues to raid Social Security and imperil the retirement account that many Americans have paid into and continue to depend upon.'

"On the one hand, he raids the Social Security trust fun, while on the other he attacks Republicans for threatening Social Security. Republicans ought not let him get away with such transparent chutzpah."

The rest of his article is interesting as he explains how all this will affect the Generation X-ers just as they get old enough to retire.

David Holt wrote the following in his response to the State of the Union address, particularly the comments about energy development: "Tuesday's State of the Union address is noteworthy because it appears to signal a change in the Administration's approach to US energy development. If so, this is welcome news. Truly embracing an `all of the above' energy strategy that allows for the robust development of our oil and natural gas resources in the immediate term would boost economic development, lessen our dependence on hostile oil regimes, and save American consumers from record-high fuel costs. However, while these words are encouraging, the Administration's actions over the last three years tell a different story."

I think that Mark Steyn had the best comment of all. He started his article this way, "Had I been asked to deliver the State of the Union address, it would not have delayed your dinner plans:

"`The State of our Union is broke, heading for bankrupt, and total collapse shortly thereafter. Thank you and goodnight! You've been a terrific crowd!'

"I gather that Americans prefer something a little more upbeat, so one would not begrudge a speechwriter fluffing it up by holding out at least the possibility of some change of fortune, however, remote. Instead, President Obama assured us at great length that nothing is going to change, not now, not never. Indeed the Union's state - its unprecedented world-record brokenness - was not even mentioned…."

Mark's article became better the more I read. I highly recommend it!

There is an old adage that goes something like this: You can fool all of the people some of the time, and you can fool some of the people all of the time - but you can't fool all of the people all of the time.

What did you think of the State of the Union address? Do you believe what the President said - or are you like many other people who believe that he lies?

The Greatness of Ronald Reagan

2012-01-30T22:00:00.002-09:00

It seems that almost every politician wants to be known as a Reagan-something. Newt Gingrich claims that he is a Reagan-Conservative and wants us to believe that we can usher in another "Age of Reagan" by electing Gingrich to be the next President of the United States. I personally do not see President Reagan in anything that Gingrich says or does! I am not campaigning for Mitt Romney, but here is a short political ad explaining why Gingrich is no Ronald Reagan.

Ronald Reagan was the best President of the United States in my life time and possibly the best President in the past one hundred years. I liked him while he was President, and I admire him even more as time goes by. President Reagan came to us after four very long and dark years under the administration of Jimmy Carter and was like a ray of sunshine after a terrible storm! It was obvious in his words and actions that he loved our nation and wanted the people of the United States to be the best we could be. His words were always positive and uplifting - even while participating in political debates. I can still hear him say "There you go again!" and say it with a smile on his face.

I admire Ronald Reagan so much that I have posted ten different articles about him or quoting him in the past two years and feel impressed to write still another article. The first article I wrote about President Reagan was during the fight to stop Obamacare. It was entitled "Ronald Reagan on Health Care" and was dated December 1, 2009. It was a short article that included a link to a talk given by a younger Ronald Reagan speaking as a private citizen about socialized medicine. His remarks are still so appropriate that I want to link to them again. President Reagan gave this speech in 1961 in opposition to Medicare and possibly Medicaid. It could very well have been given in opposition to Obamacare! I encourage you to listen to President Reagan - not only for the information in his talk but to get the sense of a real leader.

My next article was entitled "Generations of Freedom" and was dated December 17, 2009. It quoted Ronald Reagan about the importance of each generation teaching their children and grandchildren about the importance of freedom and how to safeguard it. "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the

United States

when men were free."

My third article, entitled "Progressive Movement" on January 7, 2010, included a link to a speech given by Ronald Reagan at the 1964 Republican National Convention. The speech was about Russia and the threat of communism, but his words apply to our nation right now. The entire speech is wonderful and worth hearing. Here is just one small quote from it: "This is the issue of the election: Whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves."

My next two articles were very similar and included the basic facts about the life of Ronald Reagan. One of those articles can be found here.

My sixth article about Ronald Reagan centered on his integrity and his willingness to stand on his principles. The article, dated March 3, 2010, was entitled "Plant Your Flag" and started with this quote: "When General Victor `Brute' Krulak asked President Reagan what advice he would give young Marine officers, Reagan didn't hesitate: `Plant your flag.' He meant find those principles, those ideals, that plan or project on which you will stake your reputation, and plant your flag there…." (William J. Bennett, America: The Last Best Hope, Vol. II, p. 480).

A second quote included in that article was from a speech President Reagan made in June 1982 as the first President of the United States to address the British House of Commons: "In an ironic sense, Karl Marx was right. We are witnessing today a great revolutionary crisis, a crisis where the demands of the economic order are conflicting directly with those of the political order. But the crisis is happening not in the free, non-Marxist West, but in the home of Marxist-Leninism, the Soviet Union…. [T]he march of freedom and democracy …will leave Marxism-Leninism on the ash heap of history as it has left other tyrannies which stifle the freedom and muzzle the self-expression of the people."

A third quote from the same article came from Reagan's famous speech at the Berlin Wall in West Germany in June 1987 as part of Berlin's 750th anniversary celebration. The following paragraph tells the story. "Reagan wanted to make a strong statement about divided Berlin. Reagan's speech writer visited Berlin in preparation for writing the speech. He saw the 60-mile long wall that separated West Berlin and East Berlin. He also saw that the wall separated two different types of existence. He saw that East Berlin was colorless and had buildings which still showed signs of bomb and bullet damage from World War II. In West Berlin he saw life, color, movement, modern architecture, traffic, etc. He talked with people in West Berlin who explained how the wall had separated members of their family. He returned to Washington D.C. determined to write something about the wall coming down. The State Department, the National Security Council, and the Secretary of State didn't want anything about the wall in the speech. They rejected draft after draft of the speech. Each time Reagan put the famous line about the wall coming down back into the speech. Reagan's speech at the Brandenburg Gate is regarded today as one of history's greatest speeches. He said what he wanted to say, and he said it with emphasis. `General Secretary, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!' Reagan believed that the United States must always negotiate from a position of strength. He was a man who believed in standing firm on true principles."

My seventh article concerning Ronald Reagan was entitled "Defending Freedom," dated May 4, 2010. It included this quote illustrating the strong and positive feelings that he had about the United States as he explained to Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev: "When World War II ended, the United States had the only undamaged industrial power in the world. Our military might was at its peak, and we alone had the ultimate weapon, the nuclear weapon, with the unquestioned ability to deliver it anywhere in the world. If we had sought world domination then, who could have opposed us? But the United States followed a different course, one unique in all the history of mankind. We used our power and wealth to rebuild the war-ravished economies of the world, including those of the nations who had been our enemies."

My eighth article, entitled "Teach Liberty" and dated July 9, 2010, included the Reagan quote about freedom being "never more than one generation away from extinction" quoted above as well as some personal examples.

My ninth article was entitled "Freedom to Work" and was dated November 11, 2010. It included the following quote about putting Americans back to work. "We hear much of special interest groups. Our concern must be for a special interest group that has been too long neglected. It knows no sectional boundaries or ethnic and racial divisions, and it crosses political party lines. It is made up of men and women who raise our food, patrol our streets, man our mines and our factories, teach our children, keep our homes, and heal us when we are sick - professionals, industrialist, shopkeepers, clerks, cabbies, and truck drivers. They are in short, `We the people,' this breed called Americans. Well, this administration's objective will be a healthy, vigorous, growing economy that provides equal opportunity for all Americans, with no barriers born of bigotry or discrimination. Putting

America

back to work means putting all Americans back to work. … All must share in the productive work of this `new beginning' and all must share in the bounty of a revived economy. With the idealism and fair play which are the core of our system and our strength, we can have a strong and prosperous

America

at peace with itself and the world."

My tenth article was entitled "Great Leaders" and was dated June 7, 2011. There were no Reagan quotes in the article, just praise for the leadership of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher as part of a celebration for the life of this great President. The two leaders stood together and worked together to make the world a better and safer place.

There can never be another Ronald Reagan, but there can be other great leaders who love this nation, have integrity, and stand on principle. I believe that Ronald Reagan was another great man that was prepared by God to lead our nation at an extremely dangerous time. I have nothing but admiration for him!

No Capitation Tax

2012-01-29T22:00:00.001-09:00

The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday comes from Article I, Section 9, Clause 4: "No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, [unless in Proportion to the Census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken.]" This principle of the United States Constitution guaranteed to American citizens that they would never be subject to a fixed tax of so much per person except in proportion to the population of their state.

"The word capitation comes from a Latin word meaning `head.' Therefore, any reference to capitation taxes or poll taxes refers to a tax which is levied at `so much per head,' regardless of circumstance. The Founders were well aware that this is not a fair tax, but it is the most easily collected in an emergency. But how much should the head tax be? Should this be determined by the wealth of the state, or its population? … [T]he Founders felt there was no way of accurately determining the wealth of a state, whereas there could be no question as to the number of people. For this reason they concluded at the Convention to make it a matter of constitutional mandate that if the government was ever forced to levy a head tax on the states, it would be according to the population." (See W. Cleon Skousen in The Making of America - The Substance and Meaning of the Constitution, p 477.)

Due to the fact that the Articles of Confederation did not give the national government much power to raise revenue, the Founders wanted to give the federal government more power to do so even though they were very concerned about taxes. "Indirect taxes (generally understood as falling on articles of consumption) did not lend themselves to congressional abuse …, but the Framers believed that `directed taxes' needed to be cabined. The cumbersome apportionment rule, requiring that a direct tax be apportioned among the states on the basis of population (so that, for example, a state with twice the population of another state would have to pay twice the tax, even if the more populous state's share of the national tax base were smaller), made the more dangerous taxes politically difficult for Congress to impose….

"Direct taxes, which were expected to be used only in emergencies, did not have the built-in protections characteristic of indirect taxes. Direct taxes were imposed directly on individuals, who, it was assumed, could not shift their liability to others. If a tax was not indirect, the Framers though it should be apportioned. Capitation and land taxes were direct under this understanding, but so might other taxes be whether known in 1787 or not. If nothing else, a broader understanding of `direct taxes' should require that the constitutional character of any proposed tax be studied before it is enacted in an unapportioned form." (See Erik M. Jensen in The Heritage Guide to the Constitution, pp 159-160.)

Mortality - A Time for Learning

2012-01-28T22:00:00.001-09:00

Have you ever watched the Olympics or another prestigious athletic event in person or on television? Although it is exciting to watch skillful athletic performances, few of us will truly understand the years of dedication, discipline, and practice that each athlete must experience before he or she can compete at that level of competition. The athlete's performance is a direct result of working toward a chosen goal.

Life is much like the Olympics because both require a goal, preparation and hard work in order to gain success and both involve persistence in case of failure. Life is unlike the Olympics in that very few athletes ever become gold medalists but each of us can receive the highest reward of life.

Like Olympic athletes, we are "in training" because we want to reach a very important goal. The "gold medal" we are working toward is exaltation in the celestial kingdom. In order to receive this reward we must be dedicated and disciplined in keeping the commandments and our covenants with God.

We must understand that Heavenly Father has a plan for the happiness of His children and that He introduced that plan to us while we lived in heaven with Him. We listened as He explained that we would leave our heavenly home and go away to "college" to gain knowledge and experience, and then we accepted His plan. As part of Heavenly Father's plan, we came to earth as infants and grew to our present stature.

Why did Heavenly Father want us to come to earth? Why is mortality an important part of the plan of salvation? Our Heavenly Father loves each of us, and He wants each of us to reach our full potential. He understood that we needed mortality in order to reach our highest potential.

President Spencer W. Kimball gave us two very important reasons for mortality: "God has given us a plan. He has sent us all to earth to obtain bodies and to gain experience and growth." (See The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p 25.)

Heavenly Father sent us to earth in order for us to receive physical bodies and to gain experience. We learned a lot while in our pre-earth life, but we needed physical bodies in order to progress any further. "My brothers and sisters, we're away from home. We're off to school. Our lessons will not be easy. The way we react to them, the way we conquer and accomplish and live will determine our rewards, and they will be permanent and eternal….

"You are sent to this world with a very serious purpose. You are sent to school, for that matter, to begin as a human infant and grow to unbelievable propositions in wisdom, judgment, knowledge, and power." (See Teachings, pp 28, 31.)

The "home" cited by President Kimball is our home in heaven with our Heavenly Father. The "school" is mortality. What have you learned in this school since you left your heavenly home? President Kimball said that one of the purposes for coming to earth was to gain a mortal body. A body is a wonderful blessing, but learning to control that body and how to use it righteously is a major learning experience. This earthly lesson includes learning to control our appetites, desires, and passions. It also includes using our newly learned skills like walking and talking in righteous ways. We need to use our ability to walk to go to the places where we should be and to take us away from evil. We need to use our ability to talk to speak honestly and positively and never take the name of the Lord in vain. God's commandments, such as the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity, help us learn to use our bodies righteously.

There is much that we must learn while we are in this earthly school before we are ready to "graduate" and return to live with Heavenly Father. An ancient prophet named Alma counseled, "For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors." (See Book of Mormon - Another Testament of Jesus Christ, Alma 34:32.)

Alma said that we must "prepare to meet God" and "perform [our] labors." What do we need to do in order to prepare to meet God? The Apostle Peter taught, "And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge.

"And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;

"And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity." (See 2 Peter 1:5-7.)

Nephi, an ancient American prophet, taught, "And now, my beloved brethren, I know by this that unless a man shall endure to the end, in following the example of the Son of the living God, he cannot be saved." (See Book of Mormon - Another Testament of Jesus Christ, 2 Nephi 31:16.)

So, in order to prepare to meet God, we must develop faith in Jesus Christ and then diligently add the following qualities: virtue, knowledge, temperance (self-control), patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity (Christlike love). After we have developed all those qualities, we need to continue doing good and then endure to the end of our lives.

The different circumstances and situations we experience in our earthly life are tailored to our individual needs to help us develop those qualities we personally need in order to live with Heavenly Father again. Our nation, our family, our friends, our health, and our church experiences are all situations that help us learn. Caring for a young child helps to develop patience. Dealing with a personal or family disability helps to develop compassion. Experiencing failure or disappointment helps to develop persistence. Keeping the commandments develops self-control and faith in Jesus Christ.

Our experiences on earth are all part of our eternal life. Our view of eternity is now limited, but we will have a better understanding of the importance of using our mortality wisely after we leave this life.

President Kimball related the following personal experience. "While in the city of Honolulu, we stayed in a room which was enclosed in glass on three sides. The light in the room illumined it and we could see the shining glass, the beautiful furniture, ceiling, floor, walls, the vases and other ornaments, everything in the room only. Our vision was limited to the small room and its contents. And then we turned out the lights and went to the window and through that window, which before had been the end of our vision, now we could see clearly over the housetops, over the trees, to the thoroughfares beneath with their many street lights, studded with the lights of automobiles, and beyond that we could see the seashore and the great hotels, and Waikiki Beach, the Punchbowl and Old Diamond Head with their craters, and the great ocean with its ships carrying the commerce of the world.

"[This] is like eternity. Here [on earth] we are limited in our visions. With our eyes we can see but a few miles. With our ears we can hear but a few years. We are encased, enclosed, as it were, in a room, but when our light goes out of this life, then we see beyond mortal limitations….

"The walls go down, time ends and distance fades and vanishes as we go into eternity… and we immediately emerge into a great world in which there are no earthly limitations comparable to ours as to time, distance, or speed." (See Teachings, pp 40-41.)

The knowledge that there is life after death or knowledge of eternal life can help us to use our mortality wisely in order to learn and gain all the knowledge and experience possible. President Kimball said that "our lessons [in this life] will not be easy," but the reward - exaltation - for learning these lessons well will be well worth the effort.

I am very grateful for my experiences in life and the lessons I have learned from them. I know that Heavenly Father gave us mortality as a time to learn and grow because He loves us and wants us to return to be with Him and like Him.

Abundant Life

2012-01-27T22:00:00.002-09:00

Families grow stronger when members undertake "a personal, diligent, significant quest" for the "abundant life." President Thomas S. Monson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints described the abundant life as being "filled with an abundance of success, goodness, and blessings," and then he set forth his ABCs on how to gain the abundant life.

The A in President Monson's ABCs means attitude. "So much in life depends on our attitude. The way we choose to see things and respond to others makes all the difference. To do the best we can and then to choose to be happy about our circumstances, whatever they may be, can bring peace and contentment….

"We can't direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails. For maximum happiness, peace, and contentment, may we choose a positive attitude."

The B in President Monson's ABCs means believe - "in yourself, in those around you, and in eternal principles.

"Be honest with yourself, with others, and with your Heavenly Father….

"Don't limit yourself and don't let others convince you that you are limited in what you can do. Believe in yourself and then live so as to reach your possibilities.

"You can achieve what you believe you can. Trust and believe and have faith."

President Monson's C stands for courage. "Courage becomes a worthwhile and meaningful virtue when it is regarded not so much as a willingness to die manfully but as a determination to live decently….

"There will be times when you will be frightened and discouraged. You may feel that you are defeated….

"Courage is required to make an initial thrust toward one's coveted goal, but even greater courage is called for when one stumbles and must make a second effort to achieve." (See "Living the Abundant Life," Ensign, January 2012, pp 4-5.)

These ABCs can strengthen families especially as we begin our journeys into a new year. It is important that we cultivate and keep a positive attitude, believe in ourselves as we set and achieve goals, and strengthen our courage to withstand the many challenges that come our way as individuals, families, communities, and nations. The abundant life can come to families that embark on President Monson's "quest" for the "abundant life."

Marriage and Religious Freedom

2012-01-26T22:00:00.001-09:00

The topic of discussion for this Freedom Friday is that marriage and religious freedom go hand in hand. Freedom of religion is necessary in order to truly support marriage; keeping the sacrament of marriage is fundamental to maintaining religious freedom. They must stand together, or both of them shall fall.

Last Friday I wrote an article about why we should defend marriage. You can find that article here. I included in that article some videos from the GOP debate in New Hampshire where the candidates defended marriage very well. I encourage you to watch all of the videos there, but I want to emphasize in this article how Newt Gingrich "called out" the media - mainstream or lame stream which ever you prefer - for their bias when covering religious liberty issues. That article also included a link to two letters written by a group of religious leaders who are very much concerned about losing religious freedom if same sex marriage becomes the law of the land.

Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney both emphasized during the debate that Catholic Charities had to close their adoption agency in Massachusetts because they would not place children with same-sex couples. Catholic Charities had previously placed about fifty percent of all adoptions in Massachusetts, but now they can no longer help children find loving families.

The letters from the religious leaders give several other examples of loss of religious freedom because of refusal to recognize same-sex marriages. 1) The State of New Jersey "cancelled the tax-exempt status of a Methodist-run boardwalk pavilion used for religious services because the religious organization would not host a same-sex `wedding' there." 2) "San Francisco dropped its $3.5 million in social service contracts with the Salvation Army because it refused to recognize same-sex `domestic partnerships' in its employee benefits policies." 3) "Portland, Maine, required Catholic Charities to extend spousal employee benefits to same-sex `domestic partners' as a condition of receiving city housing and community development funds." Please read these letters because they deserve your attention.

One of the consequences of altering the definition of marriage is the interference with the religious freedom of those who continue to believe that "marriage" is the legal and lawful union of one man and one woman. Anchorage, Alaska, will put an initiative on the municipal ballot for public vote in April that "would extend legal protections against discrimination to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in Anchorage. Current law already prohibits discrimination in employment, loans, rentals, real estate deals and other activities on the basis of race, color, marital status, sex, religion, disabilities and the like. The initiative would add sexual orientation and transgender identity to the list." (See Rosemary Shinohara in Anchorage Daily News, Saturday, January 21, 2012, p A-3.)

The Alliance Defense Fund of Scottsdale, Arizona, a national conservative Christian legal group, "analyzed the Anchorage initiative several weeks ago at the request of the Alaska Family Council, a conservative Christian organization that opposes the initiative." The main problem that the Alliance Defense Fund sees with the initiative according to Holly Carmichael, a lawyer with the fund, is that "private business owners could be forced to hire or do business with people whose sexual orientation doesn't match their religious beliefs.

"The ultimate concern with enacting something like that is that it infringes on religious freedoms…. There's a huge constitutional concern here."

Religious organizations apparently receive an exemption in current "city law that says religious institutions and groups can give preferential treatment to people of the same religion if they are, for example, hiring someone who will promote religious principles." Carmichael considers the exemption to be "too narrow" because it does not "protect other business owners or employees in the same way as it does religious groups."

One of my concerns about the Anchorage initiative is my belief that by outlawing discrimination on sexual orientation, we are one step closer to losing some of the freedoms in our society. No place - our homes, churches, temples - will be safe. When we are forced to give our stamp of approval to same-sex relationships, we must understand that we will also be losing blessings from God.

Our nation was founded on Christian-Judeo principles and values. Our Founders gave us the Constitution in order that we would be a nation of laws and they founded our laws on biblical laws, mostly the Ten Commandments. We must understand that our laws are based on commandments from God.

There is a huge problem in our nation now because of the movement for same-sex marriage. Several states have given their approval for such marriages while most of the states have not. We are a nation of laws; therefore, we cannot have people married in one state and not married in another state. Many states have passed amendments to their state constitutions stating that marriage is a union between a man and a woman. Now we need to pass an amendment to our national Constitution to protect that status of marriage being a legal and lawful union between one man and one woman.

There is a huge jump from being understanding, concerned and supportive about same-sex couples and letting them call their union "marriage." Marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God, and marital fidelity brings blessings from God. In fact, marriage between a man and a woman is a holy sacrament that cannot be extended to any other union. My personal belief is that homosexuality is a sin and that those who participate in it will reap serious consequences for their actions whether or not they are "married." I also believe that any sexual activity outside of a legal and lawful marriage between one man and one woman is sin.

Having declared my own personal feelings about immorality, I can also state that I have no problem with same-sex couples receiving legal protection as a couple. I do, however, have a big problem with using the term "marriage" to describe a same-sex union.

Using the same term of "marriage" to describe a union between a man and a woman as well as a same-sex union desecrates the sacrament of marriage. A marriage is a three-way partnership between a man, a woman, and God that is instrumental in providing physical bodies for the spirit children of God. As long as God remains a part of the relationship, the marriage is protected by God; therefore, God holds the marriage partners accountable for the success or failure of that marriage. This is one reason why Christians desire their marriages to take place in churches and temples: they want God to be a part of their marriage.

If the government forces religions to perform same-sex marriages in their churches and temples, I expect that many religions will simply close the doors of their churches and temples rather than desecrate them. The bottom line in this fight for same-sex marriage, whether or not people recognize it or are willing to admit it, is a desire to destroy religion entirely. It isn't enough to take God out of the classrooms and graduations or off our billboards and football fields. Now they want to take God out of our lives completely. Once homosexuals achieve the legal status of marriage, they will want the same type of wedding ceremonies in the churches and temples. What better way is there to destroy freedom of religion than to force the churches and temples to close if they refuse to perform same-sex marriages? You better believe that religious liberty is threatened by the fight for same-sex marriage. We must promote and protect marriage as being a union between one man and one woman!

Martha Custis Washington

2012-01-25T22:00:00.000-09:00

Martha Custis Washington was the kind of wife that a great man like George Washington needed and deserved. Martha was the very first woman to serve as First Lady. She was so well loved and respected that many people called her Lady Washington, but George used her childhood name of Patsy.

Lady Washington was born Martha Dandridge on June 2, 1731, on her parents' plantation, Chestnut Grove, near Williamsburg, Virginia. Her parents were John Dandridge (1700-1756) and Frances Jones (1710-1785). Her father emigrated from England and became a wealthy land owner and planter. Her mother was of English and Welsh descent. Martha was the oldest of eight children and had three brothers and four sisters.

Martha married Daniel Parke Custis on May 15, 1750, when she was 18 years old. Daniel was a rich planter who was much older than Martha - somewhere between 13 and 20 years. They lived at the White House Plantation located a few miles up the Pamunkey River from her parents' plantation. Martha and Daniel had four children: Daniel (1751-1754), Frances (1753-1757), John (Jacky) Parke Custis (1754-1781), and Martha ("Patsy") Parke Custis (1756-1773). Daniel and Frances died in childhood while Jacky and Patsy survived to young adulthood. Martha was left a rich, young widow when her husband passed away in 1757; he left her with independent control over a dower inheritance for her lifetime and trustee control over the inheritance of her minor children.

There is apparently no record as to when Martha met George Washington. They might have known each other while Martha was married to Daniel, and they might have met at a neighbor's house in Williamsburg in early 1758. George was a colonel in the militia at the time and must have been very dashing. He visited Martha at the White House Plantation twice in March 1758 and came away from the second visit with either an engagement to marry or a promise that she would think about it. She apparently was also being courted by another wealthy planter named Charles Carter.

The wedding of George and Martha took place on January 6, 1759, and was apparently a "grand affair" as she wore "purple silk shoes with spangled buckles" and he was attired in "a suit of blue and silver with red trimming and gold knee buckles". They honeymooned at the White House Plantation before beginning their life together at the Mount Vernon estate of Washington. From all reports, their marriage was a solid match with no sign of problems or infidelity.

Martha and George had no children together, but they reared Martha's two surviving children. Patsy died as a teenager from an epileptic seizure, and Jacky came home from college to comfort his mother. Jacky was an aide to Washington during the 1781 siege of Yorktown and died during his military service - probably from typhus. After Jacky's death, Martha and George took two of his children - Eleanor Parke Custis (March 31, 1779 - July 15, 1852) and George Washington Parke Custis (April 30, 1781 - October 10, 1857) into their home to rear. George and Martha apparently provided personal and financial support to other family members in both the Dandridge and Washington families.

George and Martha enjoyed being home and living a private life at either Mount Vernon or one of the homes of the Custis estate. It was at great sacrifice of personal feelings that George was gone from home so long to fight the Revolutionary War. Each winter when the army went to its winter encampment, George sent for Martha, and she came in spite of the fact that she really enjoyed being around her large and extended family. Martha was about five feet tall and had never been away from Virginia until her husband became the commander-in-chief of the army. She traveled thousands of miles to be with him each winter, traveling to military encampments in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York.

After the Continental Army marched into Valley Forge for their third winter encampment on December 19, 1777, Martha left Mount Vernon on January 26, 1778, and spent ten days traveling hundreds of miles in order to be with her husband in Pennsylvania. While she was at Valley Forge, she helped to maintain a higher level of morale among the officers and enlisted troops.

Martha's main role in the encampment was to care for her husband and give him her "soothing gentle hand." She served as hostess at the camp and socialized with the wives of other senior officers. The officers and their ladies would gather at each other's quarters in the evening for conversation and singing as General Washington prohibited dancing and card-playing at Valley Forge. Martha organized a women's sewing circle and mended clothing for the troops.

Martha was still at Valley Forge on May 6, 1778, to celebrate the formal announcement of an American alliance with

France

. The General and his lady began the day at Sunday services with the New Jersey brigade. After the sermon there was a thunderous feu de joie when thousands of soldiers fired their muskets consecutively to show their joy.

On May 11, Martha and George attended a camp production of Cato, one of the General's favorite theatricals. Staff officers performed the Joseph Addison tragedy for a "splendid audience" of officers and their wives.

Martha celebrated her forty-seventh birthday on June 2, and then six days later she packed up her carriage and returned to Mount Vernon, hoping that this was the last time that she would spend a winter in an army encampment. It was not to be, and she made five more winter trips to join her husband.

Martha was so opposed to George being elected President of the newly-formed United States that she refused to attend his inauguration on April 30, 1789. She did however act as First Lady and hosted many affairs of state in New York and then in Philadelphia when the capital moved. (Washington, D.C. did not become the capital until 1800 during the John Adams Administration.) Martha did not enjoy being the First Lady and felt like a "state prisoner." She was called Lady Washington, but she dressed so plainly that people often thought she was the maid.

After President Washington passed away in 1799, Martha continued to live at Mount Vernon. A short time before her death on May 22, 1802, she burned all of Washington's letters to her. She was buried by the side of her husband at Mount Vernon. All of the Washington slaves were freed between the time that George passed away and the day of Martha's death.

Facts for this article are from Wikipedia and Kathryn Kish Sklar in World Book Encyclopedia, Vol. 21, p 109.

GOP Candidates

2012-01-24T22:00:00.001-09:00

The ideal Republican presidential candidate would be a person with all the strengths of Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, and Rick Santorum and none of their weaknesses. It would be wonderful to have a President with the knowledge of government like Gingrich, experience in foreign affairs like Huntsman, desire for small government like Ron Paul, executive experience and success like Perry, business experience like Romney, and conservative values like Santorum. Alas, we have not found such a person; however, any one of the men listed above would make a better President than the one we have currently in the Oval Office!

I was very disappointed this week to read that Texas Governor Rick Perry was quitting the Republican presidential race. I kept hoping that Republicans would give him a second chance because I think he is the best candidate. I like Governor Perry because he is (and has been for a long time) a conservative - unlike Mitt Romney. He has been married to Anita for 29 years and has apparently been faithful to her - unlike Gingrich. He has been a well-liked and successful governor of Texas for a dozen plus years; therefore, he has leadership experience - unlike Santorum. He is sane - and Ron Paul's sanity is questionable. Governor Perry has been thoroughly vetted; therefore, we would know what we were getting. I also believe that Governor Perry, simply by being in the race, did a lot to keep the other candidates more honest. Besides, Governor Perry is a very likeable person!

I believe strongly that Mitt Romney is a good man with great leadership ability and strong love for the United States. It doesn't matter to me that he is rich and made his money as a venture capitalist because venture capitalism is muchbetter than crony capitalism. I do not think that the media will find anything bad in his closet because they would have found it by now. I believe he would run the nation as a business and stop our slide into the bondage of debt. I watched part of the GOP debate in Tampa, Florida, and liked what I saw there. I am leaning more towards Romney. Please don't be fooled by the media talking about Romney's 15 percent tax rate because 87 percent of Americans pay less than 15 percent - 47 or 49 percent pay no taxes at all! A man that gives 15% of his income to charity has to be a good man!

I like Rick Santorum. I believe that he has good, solid conservative ideas and a good record of conservatism. My big worry about Santorum is his lack of executive experience. It is one thing to be one Senator among one hundred members of the Senate; it is quite a different thing to be the person sitting in the Oval Office. We have a President now who came to the Executive Office from the Senate, and he doesn't know how to lead! Because Rick is basically a good man and a conservative, he would be a better President than Obama!

I agree with a few of the ideas that Ron Paul shares. I like his support of the Constitution and his ideas about small government. I do not like his ideas about foreign relationships. I basically think he is a "loose cannon." I think that he is too old to elect as our President and that he does not have the mental ability to be the leader of the Free World.

I admire Newt Gingrich in the way he handles the media, for his debating skills, and for his knowledge of how government runs. I have a real problem with his lack of morality; the man has cheated on two different wives and is a serial adulterer. He has too much moral baggage for a party of principles and values. Obviously, I am not the only person who thinks Newt's morals should be considered. Check out this article or this one or this one. A man whom I know very well and whose opinion I admire very much considers Gingrich to be "evil." I found some articles that enlarge on the same idea - here and here.

In addition to his lack of morals, I believe strongly that Gingrich is a Republican progressive. Any man who considers Franklin D. Roosevelt to be the best President in the last hundred years cannot be considered to be a conservative. Every conservative I have listened to claims that Ronald Reagan was the best President; Gingrich claims FDR was the best one. Gingrich apparently does not understand that a person can be a great leader and not be good for the people. Examples include Hitler and Lenin, both with great leadership skills. Being a good leader does not necessary mean that FDS was a good President of the United States. FDR accomplished many things during his three+ terms as President of the United States, but that does not mean that he was good for the United States! I understand that Gingrich also admires Woodrow Wilson, Teddy Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson - all liberals/progressives. Gingrich is a Republican, but he is also a liberal/progressive, big-government person who is masquerading as a conservative. I believe that our nation would be better off with Gingrich than Obama but not a whole lot better. Please do not fall for his smooth language and debating skills!

Now that Governor Perry is out of the presidential race, this is the way I rate the GOP candidates: Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul. I have to admit that I'm still looking for that ideal candidate!

The Greatness of George Washington

2012-01-23T22:00:00.008-09:00

I feel strongly that I should write an article about George Washington. I have already written several articles about him concerning the facts of his life. These facts can be found here or here.

I want to write about the greatness of the man, and yet I lack the words to truly describe him. George Washington performed many great acts of achievement, but he remained humble and willing to serve his country. He possessed great wealth but was willing to walk and work with common men. He was a great leader but was willing to listen to counsel from his subordinates. He controlled the army whose officers would have made him king, but he went before Congress to resign his military commission and return to private life. He seemed to always put the good of the army and/or the good of the country before his own personal needs and desires. What caused this man to be as he was?

I believe that George Washington could have been one of "noble and great" men seen in vision by Abraham. "Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones;

"And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born." (See Pearl of Great Price, Abraham 3:22-23.)

What kind of rulers did God include in this statement? Was God referring only to spiritual leaders or did He include George Washington and other Founders? Latter-day revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith included the following information: "According to the laws and constitution of the people, which I have suffered to be established, and should be maintained for the rights and protection of all flesh, according to just and holy principles;

"That every man may act in doctrine and principle pertaining to futurity, according to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment.

"Therefore, it is not right that any man should be in bondage one to another.

"And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood." (See Doctrine and Covenants 101:77-80; italics added.)

Ancient prophets were told that the American continents were the "promised land" and had been kept in reserve and unknown to the people in the Old World until God determined that time was right. God also proclaimed that this land would be free of kings and would remain free only to people who were righteous and followed Jesus Christ. (See the Book of Mormon - Another Testament of Jesus Christ.) God said that He "raised up" "wise men" to write the Constitution of the United States. The fact is that the Constitution would not have been written if the Americans had not won the Revolutionary War! I strongly believe that God performed miracles and helped Washington and his army to win that war in order that a free nation could be established in America!

One of Washington's officers, Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee, spoke for most, if not all, Americans at the time when he proclaimed Washington to be: "First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen."

How did Washington come to hold such an honored place in the hearts of Americans? The people loved him because of his character and his leadership; they loved him because of his integrity and character. He was a great leader who helped to shape the new nation that became the United States of America. Washington did this in three very important ways: 1) He was the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. He kept the army together - a major accomplishment in and of itself - and led it for eight long years before winning American independence from Great Britain - the greatest military power on earth at the time. 2) He served as president of the convention that wrote the Declaration of Independence. Because of the love and respect that the delegates had for Washington, he was instrumental in keeping the convention together long enough to finish the Constitution. 3) Because the people trusted Washington, they agreed to ratify the Constitution and then they elected Washington to be the first President of the

United States

. They had enough faith in his integrity to give him great power, and he honored that faith by serving his nation well and by setting numerous precedents for those who came after him. He was very mindful of the precedents he was setting and was determined that they should be appropriate and proper.

Washington's character and integrity probably stemmed from his childhood and the teachings of his parents about honesty, integrity, responsibility, and work. His mother or a teacher might have suggested that he copy the following rules of behavior in his notebook. The rules are written in his own spelling, capitalization, and punctuation.

Turn not your Back to others especially in Speaking, Jog not the Table or Desk on which Another reads or writes, lean not upon any one.

Use no Reproachfull Language against any one, neither Curse nor Revile.

Play not the Peacock, looking every where about you, to See if you be well Deck't, if your Shoes fit well, if your Skokings Sit neatly, and Cloths handsomely.

While you are talking, Point not with your Finger at him of Whom you Discourse nor Approach too near him to whom you talk especially to his face.

Be not Curious to Know the Affairs of Others neither approach those that Speak in Private.

It's unbecoming to Stoop much to ones Meat Keep your Fingers clean & when foul wipe them on a Corner of your Table Napkin. (See article by Philander D. Chase in World Book Encyclopedia, Vol. 21, p 92.)

Washington's character was probably formed by his faith in God, his humility and willingness to kneel in prayer to ask for guidance and then attribute his success to that Supreme Being. The following quote shows his tremendous desire and determination to do what was right before God and for future Americans.

The time is now near at hand which must probably determine, whether Americans are to be freemen or slaves… the fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army - our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us no choice but a brave resistance, or the most abject submission… We have therefore to resolve to conquer or die. (General orders to the Continental Army, July 2, 1776, as quoted in World Book, p 105)

I truly do believe that George Washington was one of the greatest men to ever live. I believe that he acted under inspiration from God when he led his rag tag army to victory and independence. I believe that he continued to listen to inspiration from God in the Constitutional Convention and as President of the United States. George Washington was a truly great man!

No Ex Post Facto Law

2012-01-22T22:00:00.002-09:00

The topic of discussion on this Constitution Monday comes from Article I.9.3: "No … ex post facto law shall be passed [by Congress]. This provision in the Constitution gave every American the guarantee that there would be no law passed by Congress after an act had occurred.

"The term ex post facto simply means `after the deed or fact.' There are five situations which this provision prohibits:

1) Charging someone with an offense or crime which was not illegal at the time it occurred….

2) Charging someone with a crime under a law which has made the offense more serious than when it was committed….

3) Subjecting someone to a greater punishment than was prescribed by the law at the time the offense was perpetrated….

4) Allowing evidence to be introduced under new rules which were not in effect at the time the offense occurred….

5) Passing a law which deprives the accused of some protection to which he was entitled at the time the act occurred….

"Many injustices have been prevented under this provision…." (See W. Cleon Skousen, The Making of America - The Substance and Meaning of the Constitution, p 476.)

"As generally understood, a law that is ex post facto - literally, after the fact - is one that criminally punishes conduct that was lawful when it was done. It is an aspect of the fundamental maxim, nulla poena sine lege: there can be no punishment without law - in this case, without pre-existing law. Despite the fact that the prohibition against such laws had worked its way into English law (as celebrated by Sir William Blackstone), Parliament had, nonetheless, claimed the right to enact ex post facto laws in the form of bills of attainder against unpopular groups and persons. In addition, prior to the Constitutional Convention, some states themselves had passed ex post facto laws. (The prohibition of ex post facto state laws is found in Article I, Section 10, Clause 1).

"Nevertheless, opposition to ex post facto laws was a bedrock principle among the Framers….

"In Philadelphia, the Framers debated the issue vigorously…. The delegates then approved the clause….

"While the Supreme Court has hewn to the position that the Ex Post Facto Clause prohibits criminal penalties only, it has also applied the clause in civil cases where criminal penalties are disguised as civil disabilities. As the Court has said, `it is the effect, not the form, of the law that determines whether it is ex post facto.' Weaver v. Graham (1980)." (See Daniel Troy, The Heritage Guide to the Constitution, pp 156-157.)

The Atonement of Jesus Christ

2012-01-21T23:45:00.000-09:00

The front page of any newspaper is usually reserved for the most important events of the day. In fact, the most important news can usually be found "above the fold" on the front page. If a newspaper published a special issue covering the entire history of the world, what stories do you think would be on the front page? I believe that the news about the Atonement of Jesus Christ would be printed above the fold!

Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stated: "The wondrous and glorious Atonement was the central act in all of human history" (Ensign, May 1985, 73).

Why do you think that Elder Maxwell would make this statement? I believe that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is the most important event in all history because it affects not only life on earth but the eternal lives of every person who has ever lived on earth. Knowing about the Atonement can help each of us deal better with the bad news and terrible events we often hear about on the news.

To help you gain better understanding of the Atonement, I would like to share a story about an ordinary man who did an extra-ordinary thing. "On a cold, wintry day in 1982, an airplane crashed into a bridge in Washington, D.C., and landed in the Potomac River. Most of the people on the plane were killed immediately, but six people got out of the plane and hung on to its tail while two men in a helicopter threw them a life preserver. The water was very cold, and it was hard to hang on to the plane. The rescuers were afraid that the passengers might lose their grip and drown before they could be pulled out and carried to safety. The rescuers noticed that one man seemed to be more alert than the others, so they lowered the life preserver to him. But every time they did this, he passed the life preserver to someone else so the other person could be rescued first. When the other five people were safe, the helicopter went back for the man, but he was gone." (See Roger Rosenblatt, "The Man in the Water," Time, 25 Jan. 1982, 86; see also Thomas S. Monson, Ensign, May 1983, 56.)

This was an ordinary man, a mortal like you and I; yet he gave his life that other people might live. I don't know if I would have been as brave, unselfish, and loving as this man. The man in the river did a great thing when he selflessly gave his own life to save the lives of five other people; but Jesus Christ did an even greater thing when he gave his life to save the spiritual lives of everyone on earth.

Last week I wrote about the Fall of Adam and Eve. http://causeofliberty.blogspot.com/2012/01/fall-of-adam-and-eve.html

Because Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, both spiritual and physical death came into the world. In physical death, a person's body becomes separated from his/her spirit. In spiritual death, a person becomes separated from Heavenly Father. Without a Savior, both physical death and spiritual death would be permanent. After death our bodies and spirits would be separated forever, and we would be unable to live with Heavenly Father again. But just as the Fall was part of Heavenly Father's plan, Heavenly Father also planned for us to have a Savior who would overcome both physical and spiritual death.

John 1:1-3, 14 tells us, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

"The same was in the beginning with God.

"All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."

The "Word" is a name used for Jesus Christ. He was with Heavenly Father before the earth was created, and He was chosen in the premortal world to create the earth and become our Savior.

The statement in John is confirmed in Pearl of Great Price, Moses 4:2, where we read, "But, behold, my Beloved Son, which was my Beloved and Chosen from the beginning, said unto me - Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever."

Jesus' existence on earth was different from every other mortal's in two different ways: 1) Jesus was the Only Begotten Son of Heavenly Father. This means that Heavenly Father was the father of Jesus' physical body as well as His spirit. 2) Jesus was the only person to ever live on earth without committing a single sin. These are two very important differences because these two qualities - his Godhood and his sinlessness - were necessary for Christ to atone for our sins and be our Savior.)

The word atone means to "correct or overcome the consequences of sin" and make "at one" people who have been separated [see "Atonement," Bible Dictionary, 617].) The Atonement of Jesus Christ enables us to become "at one" with Heavenly Father because eternal law, or justice, requires that whoever violates a law must be punished. Through his suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane and his death on the cross, Jesus Christ took upon himself the punishment for the sins of everyone who ever lived on the earth. Because of this Atonement, we can repent of our sins, be freed from guilt, and be worthy to dwell with Heavenly Father again.

One of the Articles of Faith for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints states: "We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel." (See Pearl of Great Price, Articles of Faith 1:3.) Christ's Atonement was performed for all mankind!

Elder Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles told a story - a parable - entitled "The Mediator;" this parable explains why the Atonement was necessary. It is about a debtor (one who borrows or owes money), a creditor (one who lends money), and a mediator (one who solves problems). It symbolizes our relationship with our Savior. The debtor represents all mankind, the creditor represents the laws of justice, and the Mediator represents Jesus Christ.

"There once was a man who wanted something very much. It seemed more important than anything else in his life. In order for him to have his desire, he incurred a great debt.

"He had been warned about going into that much debt, and particularly about his creditor. But it seemed so important for him to do what he wanted to do and to have what he wanted right now. He was sure he could pay for it later.

"So he signed a contract. He would pay it off some time along the way. He didn't worry too much about it, for the due date seemed such a long time away. He had what he wanted now, and that was what seemed important.

"The creditor was always somewhere in the back of his mind, and he made token payments now and again thinking somehow that the day of reckoning really would never come.

"But as it always does, the day came, and the contract fell due. The debt had not been fully paid. His creditor appeared and demanded payment in full. Only then did he realize that his creditor not only had the power to repossess all that he owned, but the power to cast him into prison as well.

"`I cannot pay you, for I have not the power to do so,' he confessed.

"`Then,' said the creditor, `we will exercise the contract, take your possessions, and you shall go to prison. You agreed to that. It was your choice. You signed the contract, and now it must be enforced.'

"`Can you not extend the time or forgive the debt?' the debtor begged. `Arrange some way for me to keep what I have and not go to prison. Surely you believe in mercy? Will you not show mercy?'

"The creditor replied, `Mercy is always so one-sided. It would serve only you. If I show mercy to you, it will leave me unpaid. It is justice I demand. Do you believe in justice?'

"`I believed in justice when I signed the contract,' the debtor said. `It was on my side then, for I thought it would protect me. I did not need mercy then, nor think I should need it ever. Justice, I thought, would serve both of us equally as well.'

"`It is justice that demands that you pay the contract or suffer the penalty,' the creditor replied. `That is the law. You have agreed to it and that is the way it must be. Mercy cannot rob justice.'

"There they were: One meting out justice, the other pleading for mercy. Neither could prevail except at the expense of the other.

"`If you do not forgive the debt there will be no mercy,' the debtor pleaded.

"`If I do, there will be no justice,' was the reply.

"Both laws, it seemed, could not be served. They are two eternal ideals that appear to contradict one another. Is there no way for justice to be fully served, and mercy also?

"There is a way! The law of justice can be fully satisfied and mercy can be fully extended - but it takes someone else. And so it happened this time.

"The debtor had a friend. He came to help. He knew the debtor well. He knew him to be shortsighted. He thought him foolish to have gotten himself into such a predicament. Nevertheless, he wanted to help because he loved him. He stepped between them, faced the creditor, and made this offer.

"`I will pay the debt if you will free the debtor from his contract so that he may keep his possessions and not go to prison.'

"As the creditor was pondering the offer, the mediator added, `You demanded justice. Though he cannot pay you, I will do so. You will have been justly dealt with and can ask no more. It would not be just.'

"And so the creditor agreed.

"The mediator turned then to the debtor. `If I pay your debt, will you accept me as your creditor?'

"`Oh yes, yes,' cried the debtor. `You save me from prison and show mercy to me.'

"Then,' said the benefactor, `you will pay the debt to me and I will set the terms. It will not be easy, but it will be possible. I will provide a way. You need not go to prison.'

"And so it was that the creditor was paid in full. He had been justly dealt with. No contract had been broken.

"The debtor, in turn, had been extended mercy. Both laws stood fulfilled. Because there was a mediator, justice had claimed its full share, and mercy was fully satisfied" (Ensign, May 1977, 55-55).

When we agreed to come to earth and receive bodies, we knew that we would sometimes make wrong decisions. Our sins are like the debt of the man in the story. The laws of justice demand that our sins be paid for if we are to return to live with Heavenly Father again. Because Jesus was sinless and the Only Begotten Son of Heavenly Father, he was the only one who could atone for our sins and satisfy justice.

In the story, the mediator (the debtor's friend) said he would become the debtor's new creditor. The debt would be repaid on his terms. Christ has set the terms for us in order that we might receive all the blessings of the Atonement. Those terms are contained in the following scriptures.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

"And he cometh into the world that he may save all men if they will hearken unto his voice; for behold, he suffereth the pains of all men, yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children, who belong to the family of Adam.

"And he suffereth this that the resurrection might pass upon all men, that all might stand before him at the great and judgment day" (Book of Mormon - Another Testament of Jesus Christ, 2 Nephi 9:21-22).

"For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent" (Doctrine and Covenants 19:16).

All mankind are unconditionally saved from physical death because of the Savior's Atonement. Every one of us will be resurrected and gain immortality. In order to be saved from spiritual death and live with Heavenly Father again, we must follow the counsel given in these scriptures: 1) we must believe in Christ, 2) we must follow and obey him, and 3) we must repent of our sins.

If we do not repent of our sins, we will have to suffer the consequences for our choices. Doctrine and Covenants 19:17-18 tells us: "But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I;

"Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit - and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink -

"Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men."

The debtor in the story would have lost all his possessions and gone to prison if his friend had not offered to help him.

Jesus Christ has already atoned for our sins. In the Book of Mormon - Another Testament of Jesus Christ (2 Nephi 9:7-9), a prophet named Nephi explained what would happen to us if an atonement had not been made. "Wherefore, it must needs be an infinite atonement - save it should be an infinite atonement this corruption could not put on incorruption. Wherefore, the first judgment which came upon man must needs have remained to an endless duration. And if so, this flesh must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its mother earth, to rise no more.

"O the wisdom of God, his mercy and grace! For behold, if the flesh should rise no more our spirits must become subject to that angel who fell from before the presence of the Eternal God, and became the devil, to rise no more.

"And our spirits must have become like unto him, and we become devils, angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our God, and to remain with the father of lies, in misery, like unto himself; yea, to that being who beguiled our first parents, who transformeth himself nigh unto an angel of light, and stirreth up the children of men unto secret combinations of murder and all manner of secret works of darkness."

In other words, without the Atonement of Jesus Christ and our willingness to abide by the terms of His offer, we would not be resurrected, and our sins in this life would keep us out of the presence of Heavenly Father forever.

Heavenly Father showed His great love for all His children when He sent Jesus Christ, His Only Begotten Son, to earth and allowed Him to suffer, bleed, and die to atone for our sins. Jesus Christ showed His great love for His spirit brothers and sisters when He willingly suffered for our sake. I am so very grateful for the sacrifices made by both of them. In fact, "I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me" (Hymns, 193). I love both Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ with all my heart!

Grandparents Matter

2012-01-20T22:00:00.001-09:00

Families are strengthened when grandparents play an important role in the family. The presence of grandparents in the lives of children pays great benefits. Parents hold the most important role in the life of a child, but grandparents influence children in small and even minor ways.

The data from a recent study out of Brigham Young University (BYU), entitled the Flourishing Families Project, showed significant results. The study was ongoing for a period of five years. The project involved 500 families who live in the northwestern United States and come from all different races and background. The purpose of the study was "to better understand family life. We think that family life matters, but in the scientific world, our understanding of family life is actually quite limited. This study can help improve our understanding of how families help children do well as they become young adults. We also want to know about children who struggle. The Flourishing Families Study can help us answer some of these important questions."

According to an article in the Church News of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, January 7, 2012, the study looked at the relationship between parents and youth and recognized that this relationship had a great influence on youth. The study shows that, as important as this relationship is, grandparents can also have a good influence on youth. Grandparent involvement helps youth to develop critical social emotional skills. Grandparents, particularly those who do not live with the grandchildren, can concentrate on developing positive relationships rather than discipline.

The study examined the influence of grandparents by interviewing 408 grandchildren ages 10-14. Part of the study included questions for the grandchild about a particular grandparent with whom they shared a close relationship. The questions included such topics as grandparent assistance in making decisions, talking through problems, or giving advice. The study showed that there is a correlation between involved grandparents and the grandchild's treatment of other people. This involvement was also evident with some youth in their school performance.

I was pleased to read that it didn't seem to matter whether the grandparents live close or far from the grandchildren because most of my grandchildren live far from me. I was happy to read that grandparents can be influential in the lives of their grandchildren no matter the mileage between them.

The study proved the comments of Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (Ensign, June 2003): "I hope parents will not overlook the potentially powerful asset grandparents can be. Grandparents can be welcomes and listened to in formal councils or on informal occasions. They've walked the road of life 30 or more years longer than anyone else in the council. Even if grandparents live far away, grandchildren can call or email; I know ours do. A single parent may have this resource and may not be utilizing it. Grandparents can be a tremendous resource."