I knew a rancher who lived near Lometa Texas His two grandsons were my best friends We would go into town with him and follow him around while he shopped and chatted with the folks he knew He knew them all by name and he knew their stories He rsquo d stop here and there and ask about a sick child or a difficult marriage and he rsquo d offer a word of encouragement or two He would share Scripture and pray if it seemed the right thing to do I rsquo ll never forget the man He was something [... more]

One evening years ago my wife and I were making our way down a mountain trail accompanied by two friends The trail was narrow and wound around a slope with a steep drop on one side and an unclimbable bank on the other As we came around a bend I saw a large bear moseying along swinging his head from side to side and quietly huffing We were downwind and he hadn rsquo t detected our presence but he would soon Our friend began to rummage around in her jacket for a camera ldquo Oh I must take a picture [... more]

My old dog sits by my side and stares off into space A penny for her thoughts One thing I know she isn rsquo t thinking about is dying because dogs don rsquo t ldquo understand rdquo They don rsquo t think about future things But we do No matter our age or health or wealth we at some point think about dying That rsquo s because we unlike beasts have ldquo understanding rdquo according to Psalm We know that we will die and there rsquo s nothing we can do about it ldquo No one can redeem the life [... more]

In our ongoing series reviewing the book The LDS Gospel Topics Series this week we consider chapter the Cultural Work of the 'First Vision Accounts' Essay written by David J Howlett and take a closer look at the First Vision [... more]

In our ongoing series reviewing the book The LDS Gospel Topics Series this week we consider chapter the Cultural Work of the 'First Vision Accounts' Essay written by David J Howlett and take a closer look at the First Vision [... more]

In our ongoing series reviewing the book The LDS Gospel Topics Series this week we consider chapter the Cultural Work of the 'First Vision Accounts' Essay written by David J Howlett and take a closer look at the First Vision [... more]

In our ongoing series reviewing the book The LDS Gospel Topics Series this week we consider chapter the Cultural Work of the 'First Vision Accounts' Essay written by David J Howlett and take a closer look at the First Vision [... more]

Years ago my son Josh and I were making our way up a mountain trail when we spied a cloud of dust rising in the air We crept forward and discovered a badger busy making a den in a dirt bank He had his head and shoulders in the hole and was vigorously digging with his front paws and kicking the dirt out of the hole with his hind feet He was so invested in his work he didn rsquo t hear us nbsp nbsp I couldn t resist and prodded him from behind with a long stick lying nearby [... more]

Back in my sermon-making days I approached some Sunday mornings feeling like a lowly worm During the week before I had not been the best husband father or friend I felt that before God could use me again I had to establish a track record of right living So I vowed to get through the sermon as best I could and try to live better the coming week nbsp nbsp That was not the right approach In Galatians it rsquo s said that God continually supplies us with His Spirit and works powerfully through us as a free gift mdash [... more]

A woman I know planned an event at a local park and invited all the neighborhood children to participate She was excited about the opportunity to share her faith with her neighbors She recruited her three grandchildren and two high school students to help her gave the assignments planned a number of games and other activities prepared food worked on a story about Jesus to present to the children and waited for them to gather Not a single child showed up the first day Or the second day Or the third day Yet each day my friend went through that [... more]