How Well Do You Know Your Family?

            Families, communities, and nations are stronger when family members are connected through generations. There are many ways to do family history, and there are numerous organizations that offer help. However, Family Search International may offer the best services.


            The Genealogical Society of Utah began in Salt Lake City on November 13, 1894, under the direction of President Wilford Woodruff of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The organization began 125 years ago “in an upstairs room with 190 donated books.” It is now known as Family Search International and is “the largest genealogy organization in the world.”


            Family Search has published “almost 4.8 billion searchable records” and has grown “its family tree to more than 1.2 billion people” over the “past 125 years.” Much of the growth in Family Search can be attributed to the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ about families, but two events are recognized as essential to its growth. 


            The first event was the dedication of the Salt Lake Temple about 18 months before the Genealogical Society of Utah was established. In the dedicatory prayer offered on April 6, 1893, President Woodruff “asked the Lord to send the spirit of Elijah and increase the desire of the Saints to search out their ancestors.

Bless them, we pray Thee, in their labors, that they may not fall into errors in preparing their genealogies. Furthermore, we ask Thee to open before them new avenues of information, and place in their hands the records of the past, that their work may not only be correct but complete also.

            The answer to this prayer was “very real and very dramatic” in that the number of published family histories increased greatly, especially in New England, the former home of many of the Saints. There were “thousands of names of ancestors and family members of the Saints” made available by the published family histories.


            The second event took place in the April 1894 General Conference where President Woodruff said, “We want the Latter-day Saints from this time to trace their genealogies as far as they can, and to be sealed to their fathers and mothers. Have children sealed to their parents, and run this chain through as far as you can get it” (Hearts Turned to the Fathers: A History of the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1894-1994).


            I am fortunate to belong to a family that has been actively involved in gathering family histories for over one hundred years. My paternal grandmother, my father, several of my siblings, and many of the next generation have worked and still work in family history. I try to do my part by taking as many of the names as possible to the temple for their work to be performed. I know that connection with ancestors and posterity brings great strength to families, and strong families strengthen communities and nations.

How Should We Teach Horrors of Socialism?

            The liberty principle for this Freedom Friday concerns the need to teach the younger generations about the horrors of socialism. A large percentage (70%) of the millennials according to one survey are leaning toward voting for a socialist and see communism as “favorable” (1 in 3). They do not seem to realize that socialist/communist nations have everything “free” except the people themselves.


            Walter Williams, professor of economics at George Mason University, shared information from a “recent survey conducted by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation and polled by YouGov, a research and data firm.” The above figures were included. He compared the results of the survey with some real-life information.


            The annual “Economic Freedom of the World” by the Fraser Institute was recently released. The top ten of the world’s most economically free countries are: Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand, Switzerland, the United States, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Mauritius. The United States was listed in 16^th place in 2016 and is now in “the top five economically free countries of the world.” Venezuela, Argentina, and Ukraine are among the least free countries in the world.


            Williams explained that the Fraser Institute calculates economic freedom by “analyzing the policies and institutions of 162 countries and territories. These include regulation, freedom to trade internationally, size of government, sound legal system, private property rights, and government spending and taxation.”


            According to Fred McMahon, scholar at Fraser Institute, “Where people are free to pursue their own opportunities and make their own choices, they lead more prosperous, happier, and healthier lives.”


            The horrors of socialism and communism include more than poverty and starvation for millions of people. They also include the fact that communist countries are guilty of killing millions of people. 


            Williams references research by professor R.J. Rummel in “Death by Government.” According to the research, “from 1917 until its collapse, the Soviet Union murdered or caused the death of 61 million people, mostly its own citizens. From 1949 to 1976, Mao’s communist regime was responsible for the death of as many as 76 million Chinese citizens.” Williams sums up his message with these paragraphs.

Today’s leftists, socialists, and progressives would bristle at the suggestion that their agenda differs little from that of past tyrants. They should keep in mind that the origins of the unspeakable horrors of Nazism, Stalinism, and Maoism did not begin in the ‘20s, ‘30s, and ‘40s.

Those horrors were simply the result of a long evolution of ideas leading to a consolation of power in the central government in the quest for “social justice.”

            Williams has many more thoughts and facts about socialism, and I suggest that you follow this link to read his article.  The bottom line is that the rising generation must be taught the horrors of socialism before they suffer from it. 

One idea that I saw floating around on Facebook is as follows. Assign your child to clean the bathroom and pay them $10. Then take $7 and distribute the money to other children who did not do any work in the bathroom. That is basically the way that socialism works. It takes the rewards from those who are willing to work and spreads them to those who are not willing to work. 

However, the teaching takes place, it must be done. Somehow, the rising generation must understand that capitalism and the free market system is far superior to socialism and/or communism. There simply is no comparison of benefits. All you have to do is look at conditions in the United States where the market is booming and in Venezuela where people are starving. Where would you rather live?

Did You Watch the Democrat Clowns Today?

            The impeachment clown show started today in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Democrats hate Donald Trump so much that they will do anything to take him out of office, even turning themselves into clowns and the People’s House into a three-ring circus. Needless to say, the circus did not perform well today.

The first two witnesses – George Kent (deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs) and William Taylor (acting U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine) – were given the offenses worthy of impeachment. Then they were asked what Trump’s impeachable offense was. They could not answer the question and just looked at each other. Their main topics for their testimonies were: Who is in charge of the policy on Ukraine for the Trump administration and Trump’s focus on the business dealings of Hunter Biden. Neither of diplomats were on the phone with Trump when he spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in July, and both had formed their opinions on something someone told them that someone else had said.

Fred Lucas at The Daily Signal wrote about “six key moments” from the impeachment hearings held today.

1. Bidens and Burisma: Hunter Biden’s role as a well-paid board member for the Ukrainian energy company Burisma was a subject that House Democrats’ counsel, Daniel Goldman, sought to dispose of early. [Neither Taylor nor Kent had any information about Hunter Biden.]

2. Staffer: “Trump Cares More about Investigations.” [Kent and Taylor both testified previously behind closed doors. Taylor added new information today about a member of his staff saying that Trump was more interested in the investigation of the Bidens than in Ukraine. He based his statement on a telephone call he overheard between Ambassador Sondland and Trump. I have heard that the staff member may be in trouble due to the fact that conversations with the president are classified.]

3. A visit to the White House and military aid were tied to the investigation. [The Trump administration held up nearly $400 million of aid – already approved by Congress – because he was concerned about corruption in Ukraine. However, Ukraine did not know the aid was being held, and Zelenskyy has repeatedly said that he did not feel pressured by Trump to open investigations. The aid was released and there have been no investigations.]

4. Kent and Taylor said several times that they were not listening in on the call between Trump and Zelenskyy and were relying on information from other people. Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) who is an attorney, later told the two witnesses: “We’re not in a court, gentlemen. But, if we were, the Sixth Amendment would apply and so would rules on hearsay and opinion. Most of your two testimonies would not be admissible whatsoever.”

5. Taylor testified that the Trump administration’s policy toward Ukraine is an improvement over that of the previous administration. He said that he was “pleased when the Trump administration provided Javelin anti-tank missiles and enacted stronger sanctions.”

6. Trump was busy running the nation and was “too busy to watch” the witch hunt. He did, however, know that the Democrats were using lawyers to do the questioning

            From what I watched of the clown show, the Democrats have nothing on President Trump. This impeachment hearing is another waste of time and money that the Democrats should be using to improve American lives. They are aptly called the “Do Nothing Democrats” because they have done nothing for the country since Trump was elected. Their full attention has been on getting rid of Trump. I hope that Americans will remember the many clown shows put on by the Democrats and vote them all out of office.

What Do You Think the US Should Do about DACA?

            Barack Obama, who once bragged that he had a phone and a pen, created program known as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, otherwise known as DACA, in 2012. This program allowed authorized 700,000 illegal aliens who were brought to the United States as children to work and to deferred deportation. 


            Obama created DACA with an executive order even though he publicly admitted that he did not have authority to do so. He explained that the program was outside the jurisdiction of the executive branch because it belonged in Congress. However, he went ahead and authorized it.


            President Donald Trump used the same vehicle – an executive order –to roll back the program. Liberals immediately got upset and started to file court cases. Early in 2017 the Department of Homeland Security made the announcement that the program would be rolled back. The reason given at the time was that it “likely violated the constitutional separation of powers as well as federal immigration laws.” The roll-back was justified because courts had previously invalidated “a related program for illegal-alien parents of U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents.”


            Today the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on three of the cases that challenged Trump’s authority to cancel the program that was supposed to be temporary and allow Congress time to act. Congress never accepted their responsibility, and Trump attempted to cancel the program by the same authority used to create it.


            Now the problem sits in the hands of the justices on the Supreme Court. They are faced with the problem of “deciding whether it’s reasonable for the president to abandon an arguably unlawful program put in place by a predecessor.”


The Trump administration argues that federal law bars review of agency enforcement decisions, such as the DACA rollback, that are “committed to agency discretion by law.” But if the decision is reviewable, the administration maintains that it was rational to abandon an unlawful program.


            Elizabeth Slattery, in an article at The Daily Signal, reports that there were some key exchanges during the oral argument. Questions introducing those exchanges are as follows.

1. Is the DACA rollback reviewable by Courts? [Does the Supreme Court have the authority to review the DACA rollback?]

2. How strong are DACA’s reliance interests? [Do DACA recipients rely on the program continuing? Do businesses rely on DACA continuing? How can anyone rely on a “temporary” program to continue?]

3. Is the handling of DACA a simple prioritization of how to handle the 11 million illegal aliens living in the United States? [DACA helps people to violate the law of the United States. Why should they have any priority status at all?]

4. What is the limiting principle for the court to consider?

5. Does the Administration believe DACA is illegal? Does it matter?

            The Administration does believe that DACA is illegal and should be rescinded because it is illegal. This may or may not be enough justification for the justices to rule for the Administration, but it makes sense to me. If a law is illegal, it should not have been implemented in the first place, and it should be rescinded as soon as possible.  If the Supreme Court rules in favor of the challengers, there will likely be more years of litigation over a temporary fix that Congress was supposed to legislate into a satisfactory and legal law. DACA is another problem that Congress continues to kick down the road.

Can We Trust Nikki Haley?

            My VIP for this week is former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley. I admired her when she stood up to foreign tyrants at the United Nations. have you noticed that we are not hearing much about the U.N. lately? It appears that she was defending President Donald Trump from members of his own cabinet. In a recent interview with Norah O’Donnell, “CBS Evening News” anchor, Haley spoke of a private conversation that she had with former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly.


            According to Haley, Tillerson and Kelly tried to convince her to “resist” Trump in order to “save the nation.” Tillerson, of course, denies that he was resisting Trump, but Haley’s story does explain why he was replaced. Kelly does not see anything wrong with the way he acted.


            Haley has a point. She expected them to act with integrity and take their problem to Trump rather than resist his orders behind his back. If they did not like Trump’s policies, they had no business working for him. They should have resigned or never accepted the positions in the first place.


            We do not know at this point who to believe. However, Haley is still defending the President. When asked about the possible impeachment of Trump, Haley was just as incredulous as millions of other Americans. “You’re gonna impeach a president for asking for a favor that didn’t happen ad giving money and it wasn’t withheld? I don’t now what you would impeach him on… The Ukrainians never did the investigation. And the president released the funds. I mean, when you look at those, there’s just nothing impeachable there.”

How Do You Honor Veterans?

            The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday is how to honor veterans. The word veteran has several meanings. The most common meaning is a person who has a lot of years of experience in some occupation or skill, such as politics. The meaning of the word for Veterans Day is “a former member of the armed forces.” Yes, every person who has served in the armed forces of the United States deserves to be honored on Veterans Day.


            Veterans Day, once known as Armistice Day, was first commemorated to honor the men and women who fought in World War I. It is always commemorated on November 11. The Allies and Germany signed an armistice agreement at 5:00 a.m. on November 11, 1918, stating that the fighting in World War I would end at the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. The Great War left “nine million soldiers dead and 21 million wounded.” In addition, at least “five million civilians died from disease, starvation, or exposure.” 

Armistice Day was later changed to Veterans Day when veterans of all wars are honored. It will be commemorated tomorrow on November 11, 2019. How will you commemorate it?

Thomas W. Spoehr, a retired Army lieutenant general, is director of the Center for National Defense at The Heritage Foundation, and Jack Penders is a member of the Young Leaders Program at The Heritage Foundation. They posted an article at The Daily Signal titled “How You Can Celebrate Veterans Day the Right Way.” 

They gave some interesting statistics about veterans. 

There are currently more than 18.2 million veterans in the U.S., making up almost 10% of the entire adult population….

Veterans from the 9/11 era hold an employment rate of approximately 78%, a full 8% higher than the civilian population. Additionally, in 2015 it was shown that veterans’ yearly average income reach $80,000, as compared to only $68,000 among non-veterans…. [While] 1 in 8 young adults in America did not graduate from high school… only 1 in 33 veterans failed to graduate.

Veterans vote in local elections at a rate of 73.8%. Non-veterans vote at a rate of only 57.2%. They also put in an average of 177 hours of volunteer work each year, 25% more than the rest of the population.

Most of the young men and young women who enter the armed forces come home and become the leaders and of tomorrow. They bring knowledge, skills, and values from their military lives into their civilians lives, and we are the better for it. However, some of them come home with mental and/or physical injuries. They all deserve to be honored.

Veterans willingly put themselves between the enemy and our homes and families. We owe all those who have sacrificed for us, including their families who are left behind to “hold down the fort” while they are gone. I believe that the best way that we can honor them is to become the type of person who is worthy of their sacrifice. However, there are many other ways that we can show our gratitude to them for their sacrifices. The following ideas were suggested by Spoehr and Penders.

Simply speaking to a service member about their experiences, visiting a VA hospital, or writing to troops deployed overseas are all great ways for citizens to do their part. Participating in the Veterans Day moment of silence, observed for two minutes at 3:11 p.m. Atlantic Standard Time (that’s 11:11 Alaska time) is another simple yet effective way to take part in the day.

            World War I was the war to end all wars, but we know that our nation has fought other wars – World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, and 9/11 era wars that continue. Our veterans need our gratitude and our service members need our support. We know that they will do their best to be ready to protect our nation no matter the cost in money or lives.

What Is the Unpardonable Sin?

            I read and pondered Hebrews 1-6 in my “Come, Follow Me” studies this week. Many scholars accept the Apostle Paul to be the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews, so I will refer to the writer as Paul.


            The Hebrew Saints were having a difficult time. They had accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ, but their revered beliefs and traditions founded in worshiping the one true God and the words of His prophets. Their beliefs and traditions went back for thousands of years. It must have been difficult for them when the Apostles taught the Jesus Christ fulfilled the law of Moses and had set forth a higher law as a standard of belief.


            In his Epistle to the Hebrews Paul tried to settle their questions. He taught them that the law of Moses, the prophets, and the ordinances are all important, but Jesus Christ is more important than all of them. He said that all things point to and testify that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the promised Messiah for whom the Jews had been waiting. The message of Hebrews can be summed up in the idea that we sometimes must give up some good things, like traditions, to put Jesus Christ in the center of our lives. Our eternal salvation depends on Him.


            Paul discussed numerous topics in his Epistle to the Hebrews, but I feel impressed to discuss his teachings in Hebrew 6. In the first verse of this chapter, the King James Version of the New Testament says, “Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection….” This verse can be confusing because it leaves the question, how do we become perfect without the principles and doctrine of Jesus Christ?


            We are fortunate to live in a day when prophets and apostles walk the earth once again. The Joseph Smith Translation of Hebrews 6:1 helps us to understand it better. “Therefore not leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ” (in Hebrews 6:1, footnote a). The New Testament Student Manual – Religion 211-212 [2014, 478) says that this “change supports the original Greek text of the phrase, which translates as ‘having left behind the beginning of the doctrine.’ The quote continues as follows.

The Saints addressed in Hebrews had already received the first principles, ordinances, and doctrines of the gospel (including faith, repentance, baptism, and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost; see Hebrews 6:1-2). They were not to abandon those principles but were to continue growing toward spiritual maturity from that beginning point (compare 2 Nephi 31:5-21).

The Joseph Smith Translation of Hebrews 6:3 also contains a significant addition: “And we will go on unto perfection if God permit” (in the Bible appendix).

            The Apostle Paul was concerned that some of the Hebrew Saints would fall away from the gospel of Jesus Christ and then commit the unpardonable sin. The unpardonable sin is to fight against the Savior and to put Him to open shame, almost like crucifying Him once again. Those who commit this unpardonable sin will not be forgiven because they turn from the truth, commit blasphemy, and refuse to repent. The Prophet Joseph Smith defined this blasphemy as follows. 

What must a man do to commit the unpardonable sin? He must receive the Holy Ghost, have the heavens opened unto him, and know God, and then sin against him. After a man has sinned against the Holy Ghost, there is no repentance for him. He has got to say that the sun does not shine while he sees it; he has got to deny Jesus Christ when the heavens have been opened unto him, and to deny the plan of salvation with his eyes open to the truth of it; and from that time he begins to be an enemy” (in History of the Church, 6:314).

            The above statement may be a little frightening to some members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I was a little concerned when I read the statement again. The following words of President Spencer W. Kimball put my heart at peace: “The sin against the Holy Ghost requires such knowledge that it is manifestly impossible for the rank and file [members of the Church] to commit such a sin” (The Miracle of Forgiveness [1969], 123).


            President Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles also reassured Church members: “Save for those few who defect to perdition after having known a fulness, there is no habit, no addiction, no rebellion, no transgression, no offense exempted from the promise of complete forgiveness” (“The Brilliant Morning of Forgiveness,” Ensign, Nov 1995, 19).


            The Apostle Paul wanted the readers of his Epistle to the Hebrews to have hope. He said that hope is “an anchor of the soul” (Hebrews 6:19). Hope is the quality that helps us to endure in faith. It is the assurance that we will receive our reward if we continue doing works of righteousness. (See Doctrine and Covenants 59:23.)


            President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, then of the First Presidency, spoke of hope in one of his general conference addresses. His words help us to better understand what Paul was trying to tell the Hebrew Saints.

Hope is a gift of the Spirit. It is a hope that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the power of His Resurrection, we shall be raised unto life eternal and this because of our faith in the Savior. This kind of hope is both a principle of promise as well as a commandment, and, as with all commandments, we have the responsibility to make it an active part of our lives and overcome the temptation to lose hope. Hope in our Heavenly Father’s merciful plan of happiness leads to peace, mercy, rejoicing, and gladness. The hope of salvation is like a protective helmet; it is the foundation of our faith and an anchor to our souls” (“The Infinite Power of Hope,” Ensign, Nov. 2008, 21-22).

            To summarize Hebrews 6, I would say that we must do all that we can to avoid the “thorns and briers” of the world and keep our testimony of the gospel strong and growing. As we strengthen our faith in Jesus Christ, we can also have hope in His promises.