CFP Week 9

1- Kingston -17 tiebreaker 64
2- Rex -18 tie breaker 47
3- Tammy - 22 tiebreaker 53
4- Lisa -22 tie breaker 54
5- Dad -22 tiebreaker 56
5- Juliet -22 tiebreaker 56
6- Brandon -22 tiebreaker 27
7- Derrinda -26 tiebreaker 36
8- Elijah -26 tiebreaker 53
9- Mercedes -26 tie breaker 57
10-Chanelle -29 tie breaker 27
11-Cody -32 tiebreaker 87

Actual Tiebreaker 43

Choose to Believe

"God does not compel us to believe any more than He compels us to keep any commandments, despite His perfect desire to bless us. Yet His call to us to believe in Him—to exercise that particle of faith and to give place for His words—remains in effect today. As the Savior said, “I bear record that the Father commandeth all men, everywhere, to repent and believe in me.”

"Belief and testimony and faith are not passive principles. They do not just happen to us. Belief is something we choose—we hope for it, we work for it, and we sacrifice for it. We will not accidentally come to believe in the Savior and His gospel any more than we will accidentally pray or pay tithing. We actively choose to believe, just like we choose to keep other commandments."   -- Elder L. Whitney Clayton, Choose to Believe, April 2015

Happy Anniversary

Happy 47th Anniversary!

RIP Grandma Stone

We got a call this morning around 7:30 AM.  Lisa glanced at the caller ID and saw that it was at 707 area code and immediately said, "Grandma Stone died".  We knew she wasn't doing well and that she would probably be leaving mortality soon.

I don't know any details but from what I hear she died in her sleep last night.  Which is I think how all of us want to go, so that was a blessing. Now she is in the spirit world, no longer trapped in a frail body with a mind that long ago had deteriorated greatly from Alzheimer's disease.

I imagine that right now as I write this blog post that she is riding a horse through a beautiful meadow.

Grandma was always a true cowgirl.  She loved being on the ranch more than anything.  She could even play honky-tonk music by ear.

Here are a few photographs of her life through the years:

Lois Ferne Walker Stone

April 17, 1924 - October 28, 2016

Lois Ferne Walker And her brother Wilson Franklin Walker "Uncle Buck"

 
 Lois Ferne Walker Around 1927 or 1928

The next few pictures will be of Lois with her brother Buck:

Buck and Lois with a bull

All dressed up -- Lois and Buck

Minnie Edna Adams Walker with her daughter Lois Ferne Walker

Around 1929

Cowgirl Lois

Minnie Edna Adams Walker Valentine with her daughter Lois Ferne Walker

Lois and Newell

Lois Ferne Walker and Newell Elbert Stone

On their wedding day -- April 26, 1942

Lois & Newell

Grandma pregnant with my dad, 1946

The Newell and Lois Stone family

Around 1956

Mike, Linda, Newell, Lois, Tim, Ron

Grandma and Grandpa

model T Ford at the ranch

Grandma and Grandpa Stone through the Years

Me with Grandma and Grandpa Stone around 1972

Me with Grandma and Grandpa Stone May 25, 2001 right after my graduation from medical school.
I believe this was the last time I saw either of them.

RIP Grandma Stone!  God be with you till we meet again.

Weak!

Sometimes ordinary things just strike you differently.  I've been thinking lately about how weak some people are. With the presidential election around the corner and politics swirling around, the choices are obvious yet so many people are blinded by the craftiness of men and make wrong choices.  Even people who have been taught truth and are supposedly well-informed. Weak!  It really baffles me.

Most people making bad political choices are just plain ignorant.  They just accept all the lies they are told by the mainstream media as truths.  To me that is more understandable because they haven't been taught correct principles.  Then there are other people who know better.  And are just plain weak.  To me that's the only explanation.  They are disappointments.  People who have been taught and should know better yet still make bad choices disappoint me.  This has happened a couple times this week.  So I guess perhaps I'm a little more sensitive at the moment.

This morning as I was browsing a shopping website two things stood out to me.  As I was perusing the daily specials page I noticed they were selling earrings for men.  I was disgusted.  Then just a few columns down the page the other item that jumped out at me was nose rings for sale.  Seriously?  I mean I know there are plenty of men who wear earrings and people who wear nose rings but I personally have never seen an advertisement for them.  Nor have I ever seen them for sale on a website's main sales page.  The impression I came away with was that this is what our world has come down to.  Where men wearing earrings and people wearing nose rings is considered normal and mainstream.  I was disgusted and admittedly a little discouraged with my fellow men.

The Bible clearly states that our bodies are temples that should be reveranced and not defiled.

1 Corinthians 3:16-17:

16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?  

17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

 Most people in this country are Christians and believe the Bible to be the word of God.  Yet how many willingly defile their bodies with piercings, tattoos, brandings, etc.?  Not only is that willfully rebelling against God but it really is very ugly.  Weak!

This morning I was also reading an article in American Thinker where the author noted that he was banned from Facebook for posting something perceived as derogatory to Muslims.  He actually posted the screenshot of his Facebook page which said that Facebook had removed his post because it did not conform with their community rules.

Then he posted the original post.  It was basically a commentary about a picture he saw of a Muslim woman with heavy eye makeup looking demure dressed in a burqa or whatever those things are called that cover everything but your eyes.  Basically his commentary was that it was contradictory.  That's it.  No vulgarity or profanity or anything bad was in that post.  Yet Facebook censored him and removed his post because they didn't like him talking about Muslims.

Now, even though I don't have a Facebook account personally, I know that they allow plenty of vulgarity and profanity without censorship. Unfortunately I've seen it with my own eyes on someone else's account.  Furthermore they allow religious persecution using vulgarity and profanity without censorship-- at least when the persecution is directed towards Christian religions.  Facebook has no problem with vulgarity or profanity.  Or religious persecution -- unless it's directed towards a Muslim.

And it doesn't even have to be a lie -- as long as it could be perceived as derogatory by Muslims, even if it's the truth, it is considered slander and censored by removal.

Wiki leaks has hard evidence that Facebook and the Hillary Clinton campaign are in cahoots.  Yet people still flock to Facebook for their daily dose of Zombification.  Weak!

I'm just really sick and tired of weak people allowing Satan to control their thoughts, actions, and lives.  Grow a backbone, stand up for yourself, start making better choices and quit being so weak!

That's my two cents.

Mrs. Craven

In browsing the obituary section of the local paper where I grew up, I came a cross a name that looked familiar.  I wondered, could it be my kindergarten teacher?  They shared the same last name.  So I clicked on it to read the obituary and look at the picture.  Sure enough, it was my kindergarten teacher!  I was actually surprised that she was still alive because as a kindergartener I thought she was really old.  :-) In doing the math though, I realized she was about the same age I am now, if not a year or two younger, when she taught me.

Rue Ann Craven
January 17, 1932 - October 19, 2016

I don't really remember that much about Mrs. Craven-- except her name and a vague memory of what she looked like.  In fact the above picture is exactly how I remember her looking, except maybe a slightly younger face.  :-)  I did think she was a nice teacher.

Even though I don't remember her very well, her death kind of struck me.  Perhaps it was because she died the same day as my great uncle Ken.  RIP Mrs. Craven.

Kaepernick and gratitude -- by Lloyd Marcus

I read this article a few weeks ago and thought about posting some quotes but decided against it.  Mostly because I've already said my two cents about ignorant bawl baby Kaepernick and his disrespectful ingratitude.

I've actually had this in my drafts folder for a couple of weeks and have been teetering on whether to post it or not.  Well, I just watched Hillary's America by Dinesh D'Sousa which exposes the secret history of the Democratic Party that they don't want known.  In light of the fact that the Democratic Party is responsible for breeding racism and suppressing blacks and all things that Kaepernick and his cohorts in Black Lives Matter are crying about, I decided to post it.  It is the Democratic Party and those associated with it-- including the sitting president who has exponentially deliberately increased racism in this country -- who Kaepernick and his sympathizers should be protesting, not the national anthem.

America is the great land of the free and home of the brave and melting pot for all DESPITE the Democratic Party and their racist oppression, not because of it.  So if Kaepernick and his sympathizers want to disrespectfully cry about how bad they have it here in America-- despite the fact that he, ironically, is a spoiled multi-millionaire brat who never has been oppressed -- they should bawl about what the Democratic Party has done, and continues to do, to this great nation -- instead of supporting them.

It was the Democrats who supported slavery and the Republicans who opposed it.  It was the Democrats who opposed civil rights in the 1800s and the Republicans who supported civil rights.  It was the Democrats who started the Ku Klux Klan.  It was the Democrats who started Planned Parenthood which, by the way, was started by Margaret Sanger as a way to kill black babies and keep the black population down. Yet Hillary Clinton praises Margaret Sanger and supports all abortions even if the baby is full-term.  Planned Parenthood is nothing but an abortion mill murdering babies.  And disproportionately kills many more black babies to this day.  Do black lives matter to Democrats?  Only if they vote for them.  I could go on and on.

Kaepernick, Black Lives Matter, and their sympathizers are nothing but a bunch of ignorant, disrespectful, ingrates who need to go back to history class. I'm sick and tired of their ignorant, disrespectful, bawl baby chicken guts protests and entitlement attitude. How dare you disrespect my father, grandfathers, ancestors, and all those who have fought for this country and your freedoms?  How dare you disrespect those who enforce the laws of this land to keep all of us safe?  Shame on you Kaepernick, Black Lives Matter, and those who sympathize with them.  You are a disgrace to this country and all Americans.

That's my two cents.

Here is the article by Lloyd Marcus:

October 2, 2016

Kaepernick and gratitude

By Lloyd Marcus

A black relative in his late 50s told me I should be more sympathetic toward Colin Kaepernick's grievances with America; more understanding of young blacks dissing their country.

I say, “Hogwash!”

My 88-year-old black dad might have a reason to dis our National Anthem, but not Kaepernick.  Kaepernick is a wealthy bi-racial pro-athlete whom America has been extremely good to. His grievances are rooted in ingratitude and lies promoted by Black Lives Matter.

Dad told me when he was a young Merchant Marine, after several months at sea their ship arrived at a maritime base in St. Petersburg, Florida. The crew was extremely excited about their much-anticipated shore leave. Then, Dad and his fellow black seaman were told they could not leave the ship due to the town's curfew for blacks. Dad said his outraged fellow black seaman exploded into an endless rant of cussing. Dad said he cried.

Dad said they were the first blacks to arrive at that base. The two blacks eventually had to leave the ship because it was scheduled for decommission. On that U.S. Maritime base, Dad said they had to be accompanied everywhere by bodyguards. Meals were eaten separate from white seaman. They had to call a black cab company for a ride into town. Blacks could only enter the movie theater via stairs in the back of the building, which led to a ticket booth and seating in the balcony.

Dad told me years ago how white seaman on that base trapped and attempted to hang him. White shipmates saved Dad's life.

Folks, that was real-deal painful racism. Hearing gen-xers and millennial blacks whine about racism is absurd; flat-out nonsense. So no, I do not want to hear Kaepernick's arrogant and ignorant disrespect, his lack of gratitude for Americans, black and white, who suffered and died paving the way for him.

Blacks are only 12% of the U.S. Population. How do Kaepernick and other arrogant ungrateful young blacks who keep kicking America in the teeth think blacks have risen to power in practically every area of American life, culminating with a black man holding the highest office in the land for the past 8 years? Obviously, a majority of white Americans regret past injustices and sought to make things right.

Some may argue that America is not perfect. The Bible acknowledges that we live in a sinful world. Therefore, nothing is prefect. However, America's positives far outweigh her negatives. I continue yelling from the rooftops, “America is the greatest land of opportunity on the planet for all who choose to go for it!” Cut the victim crap and pursue your dreams!

Pumphrey, the community I grew up in, had a banquet honoring my dad who was a pillar of the community. Dad is a great man, but he is a human being. Therefore, he is not perfect. What if at Dad's banquet a speaker from the podium had said this banquet is a sham, spouting negatives intended to bring down Dad's status? Dad's guests would be outraged. Pumphrians realize their Rev. Dr. Lloyd E. Marcus is not perfect, but his life bears testimony that his good far surpasses his not so good.

We Americans who honestly weigh America's positives against her negatives feel love and respect for our country. This explains the heartbreak we feel regarding this trend of athletes from the pros down to middle school giving America their middle finger. This is why it is so offensive hearing wealthy, spoil-brat black “yutes” dissing their country based on lies and racist experiences of which they know nothing about.

Though praised by America hating Leftist media, Kaepernick exposed his ignorance when he attacked Trump by saying, “America has never been great for people of color."

What was America when it elected a black man to be president for two terms? What was America when it made a dark-skin over-weight black woman (Oprah) one of the richest most powerful persons in the world?

In the late 1970s, I became the first black graphic designer at a Baltimore TV station. My buddy Joe Ford became the first black Art Director at Baltimore’s prestigious advertising agency, W.B. Doner. We blacks were pretty peerless in our fields. Today, blacks are present in almost every field of expertise. To say that blacks have not come a long way baby in America is absurd.

From politicians who awarded me scholarships to attend art college to businessmen who hired and mentored me, most of my career stepping stones have been placed ahead of me by whites.

Folks, I could go on and on with examples of how America, which is mostly white, has been extremely good to blacks. We all know and see this reality. And yet, the America hating Left and Black Lives Matter lies rule the day and millennial hearts and minds. Very sad. Devastatingly destructive.

Philosophers, gurus, and spiritual teachers, secular and religious, all tout the wisdom and proven powerful personal benefits of an attitude of gratitude.

The universally proven principle at work is that when one expresses gratitude you attract more good stuff to you.

And yet, the Left (Democrats, mainstream media and Hollywood) demeans and belittles grateful American blacks. Blacks who spit in the face of their homeland are considered, cool, brave and enlightened by the Left. The Left says that blacks who understand the blessing of being born an American are either stupid or mentally ill suffering with Stockholm Syndrome.

I pray that enough blacks have finally seen the light; saying, “No thank you” to the Left's masterfully wrapped bag of excrement, filled with racial hate, more false promises and destructive deceptions.

I informed a clueless black relative that every major city controlled by Democrats for the past 40 years is a hellhole of black suffering; through-the-roof unemployment; epidemic school dropouts; over 70% fatherless households, high incarcerations and record-breaking black on black homicides.

Blacks' negative experiences in America are all easily traceable back to their irrational loyalty to Democrats; sleeping with their enemy.

Isn't it ironic that the source of “real” hope and change for blacks, along with all Americans, is Donald Trump? Trump will, “Make America Great Again!” We are all sooooooooo ready!

Lloyd Marcus, The Unhyphenated American; Chairman: The Conservative Campaign Committee; http://www.lloydmarcus.com/

Praying Mantis

Just a glimpse into my life.  Last week on a sunny day I went outside to soak up some rays and get warm.  I went to my usual hot spot in the back of the house by the kitchen.

This is almost the exact scene that I saw:

A praying mantis on the brick right behind where I was going to park my chair.  I didn't think anything of it.  I turned myself around and tipped back to enjoy the sunshine and warmth.  I closed my eyes so that the sun wouldn't harm them.  And just relaxed.

A while later I felt something on my mouth and started blowing to get whatever it was off.  Then I started feeling legs crawling on my lips -- it was the praying mantis!  It could very well have been the exact one in the picture above.  Well, he eventually jumped off my face -- the blowing didn't seem to do much -- and onto my shoulder and then disappeared.  I didn't bother to turn around to try to find him.  I was just glad he decided to leave.  :-)

I just resumed enjoying the sunshine with my eyes closed.  It's a good thing I'm not scared of bugs.  Although I don't appreciate them crawling on my face.

That's my two cents.

CFP Week 8

1. Rex -15 Tie Breaker 39
2. Elijah -16 tie breaker 21
3. Tammy -17 tie breaker 41
4. Dad -18 Tiebreaker 42
5. Lisa -20 Tie Breaker 36
6. Brandon -21 tiebreaker 22
7. Juliet-23 tiebreaker: 32
8. Mercedes -25 Tie Breaker 49
9. Kingston-25 tiebreaker: 24
10. Cody -26 tiebreaker 58
11. Derrinda -26 tiebreaker 56
12. Mom -33 Tiebreaker 44

actual tiebreaker 97

Special Stake Conference

Elder L. Whitney Clayton
Senior President of the Quorums of the Seventy

Today we had the special treat of having a special stake conference with a general authority present.  We were not told who the general authority would be.  It ended up being Elder L. Whitney Clayton, Senior President of the Quorums of the Seventy.

We arrived about 35 minutes early to make sure we could get parking and a seat.  While we were waiting for the meeting to begin Elder Clayton and President Wells came over to where we were sitting and said hello and shook our hands.  Elder Clayton thanked me for making the effort to come to church.  He said he knows it takes more work for me to get there than for most people.  I thought that was really nice.  He is a wonderful man.  I could tell he was a true servant of God.

I wish I could have taken notes during his talk but I will try to remember a lot of what he said for you.

This is what stood out to me:

We need to prioritize our lives.  Our priorities should be as follows:

1 -- God.  God should be our number one priority.  We should all live our lives with God as our number one focus.  We should live our lives honoring God's name and remember that we have taken his name upon us.  We should remember that in all we do.  That will make it easy to make right decisions on how to keep the Sabbath day holy, which movies we should watch, in every aspect of our life.  We should always strive to keep the commandments.

2 -- Family.  Family should be our number two priority.  He asked how many people hear men talk about how they are thankful for their wive's support.  But how often do you hear women thank their husbands for their support? He talked about motherhood and how it's the hardest job in the world.  He cited President Wells talk who spoke before him.  President Wells talked about being a physician and how people's priorities change when they realize their mortality when diagnosed with a terminal illness. Without question people start putting family ahead of all the other stuff they thought was so important.

3 -- Employment.  This is one I wouldn't have thought of but it makes sense. Elder Clayton also mentioned the importance of getting an education in order to get a good job.

4 -- Church Service.  Serving in Church callings should be our fourth priority.  Obviously some callings require more time and effort than others.  Depending on individual circumstances and where we are in life depends on how much time and effort we can put into serving in the church.  Church callings should not consume your life.  There needs to be a balance.

5 -- Social/Recreation/Civic Duty etc. All other stuff should be fifth on our priority list.  These can all be good things that help to balance our lives but we need to make sure they don't take priority over more important things.   Elder Clayton mentioned that some of us could be more involved in civic duties especially when our government leaders seem to be lacking.  Of course we know the church encourages us to study the issues and candidates and vote in political elections.  Athletic and social activities can be a good part of a balanced life but they should not take priority over God, family, employment, and church service.

Elder Clayton told the story of the kudzu vines. He and his wife were on assignment in Alabama and noticed all these beautiful vines growing on trees.  He asked the mission president in the area what the beautiful vines with the pretty flowers were that grew everywhere.  The mission president told him they were kudzu plants and yes they were beautiful and were even edible.  They can feed cattle and even humans eat them.  But he said they grow like weeds.  They climb on trees and cover their leaves and quickly everything below them dies because they block out the sunlight.  So the analogy was that even good things like athletics and other social, recreational, and even civic activities can grow like kudzu vines and block our sunshine and block our growth and slowly kill us.  Sometimes those vines need to be cut.

Elder Clayton also mentioned a couple of other stories to remind us of our blessings.  When he was on assignment in Africa his wife Kathy was talking to an African sister.  This sister related to Sister Clayton that here in the United States we talk about the glass being half full or half empty.  She said they were just happy if they had a glass.  And they felt even more blessed if it had anything in it.  Another story Elder Clayton told was of an African man visiting the church office building in Salt Lake City.  Elder Clayton happened to be coming out of a meeting and this man asked him about the drinking fountain.  Elder Clayton told him all he had to do was push the button and water would come out for him to drink.  The man was amazed.  Because where he came from they didn't have drinking fountains and even if they did the water would not be potable.

Another thing I would like to mention that Elder Clayton talked about in his talk this morning was about keeping the commandments and being happy.  He read the story of the tree of life from 1 Nephi Chapter 8.  He made the point that if we stay on the path that leads to the tree of life (Keep the Commandments) that we will be happy.  There is no wondering or disputing that fact. He cited a couple of other scriptures -- Adam fell that men might be, and men are that they might have joy.

One last story.  Elder Clayton kept making the point that it was not a true story but it illustrates a point.  There was a very wealthy man who was about to die.  He had so much wealth that he wanted to bring some with him when he died.  But everybody knows you can't take it with you when you go.  Somehow this man got permission from the highest authority to bring a suitcase full of whatever he wanted.  The man thought about it and decided to purchase a bunch of gold bullion to put in a suitcase and bring with him.  He purchased the biggest suitcase he could find with wheels on it and filled it with the gold bouillon. When he got to the pearly gates St. Peter asked him why he had a suitcase and the man told him that the highest authority gave him permission to bring it.  St. Peter said no one ever gets permission to bring anything.  But the man insisted.  So St. Peter went through the pearly gates and asked.  He came back astonished and said, "well you were right, you were granted permission to bring something.  So, what did you bring?"  The man opened the suitcase to reveal the gold bouillon. St. Peter asks the man, "you brought pavers?" :-)

That brought a big smile to my face.  Elder Clayton's point was that the man should have been working more on building family relations than gaining wealth.  Because family relations are actually something you can take with you. He talked a little bit about temple sealings, families, and missionary work.

There was more but those were the main points that stuck out to me.  I hope I got it right.  Like I said, I wish I could've taken notes but I think I did pretty good with just remembering.  :-)

I'm thankful for Elder Clayton and his willingness to serve the Lord and come teach us today.  I hope we will all strive to follow his counsel and prioritize our lives and remember our blessings.

That's my two cents.

Elk Herd

These are some pictures that Dad took last Saturday, October 15, 2016 of our elk herd this year.

 This picture is my favorite.  Reminds me of Abinadi.  :-)

 Speaking of Abinadi... :-)

Looks like he is posing.  :-)

Today's Limbaugh Quotes

A few of the quotes I liked from Rush Limbaugh today:

RUSH: "Good grief, it's worse than I thought. We are surrounded, totally utterly surrounded by glittering jewels of colossal ignorance and absurdity. It's breathtaking to behold all of this. No, no, no. I'm not talking about Trump. I'm talking about the lockstep that everybody in the media is in. It is stunning! They all might as well be robotic pods being programmed by somebody.

"Every ...one of them has the same reaction to virtually anything in that debate last night that anybody's reacting to. It doesn't matter where you go. You could go to Fox. You could go to CNN. You could go to PMSNBC. You could go to anywhere and the reaction is identical.

"Is there not one human being in journalism today that has an independent thought about anything? Is there not a one of them paying attention to what's actually happening in this country..." -- Rush Limbaugh, October 20, 2016

Another Limbaugh quote from today:

"Here's the irony I was referring to earlier. I haven't heard anybody say this. What are the Democrats saying? You talk to Donna Brazile last night about the emails that prove that she was passing questions on to Hillary. (imitating Brazile) "Those are stolen emails! Those are emails delivered by criminals. I know what it is to be persecuted. I'm a Christian woman. You pick that stuff out of the gutter. I'm not answering it." And virtually every explanation for what we are learning in the WikiLeaks document dump, they don't deny anything.

"What do they say? The Russians are trying to rig our elections. The Democrats are the ones caterwauling and whining and moaning about rigged elections every day. WikiLeaks, the Russians, Mrs. Clinton at the debate last night, "I have never seen anything like this in American politics, where a foreign government is attempting to sabotage our election," dumping on the Russians for what? Trying to rig the election.

"So Trump says, "No. I'm gonna keep my options open. I don't know what's gonna happen." The only sensible answer there is to that question the Democrats, the whole debate, prior to the debate, whining and moaning about rigged elections 'cause the Russians are trying to screw 'em because the Russians are releasing emails that Podesta sent to everybody under the sun, so the Russians are what? Trying to cheat. Who is it that's alleging rigged elections? Who is it that's trying to defuse the truth coming out about them by blaming it on the Russians trying to rig elections? It's our good buddies and good friends the Democrats and their fellows in journalism. I mean, it's breathtaking to behold all of this." -- Rush Limbaugh, October 20, 2016

And another Limbaugh quote today:

"And this is why I am so righteously indignant -- I really am -- over the way they're mischaracterizing Trump's answer to the question when the behavior is already on the books and continues to this day by them. It is all the adjectives you want to come up with, unconscionable, unacceptable, but it frosts me the hypocrisy in unison that everybody in the Washington establishment is acting like Donald Trump poses the greatest threat we ever had to our great democracy.

"These people pose a threat to it. They're trying to transform it, for crying out loud. The modern day Democrat Party is itself trying to unravel and transform the founding of this country. And they are doing it having not been elected to do it. And well over half of the fundamental transformative changes happening in this country are being forced on the American people. They didn't vote for it."

"A bunch of unelected bureaucrats issuing anonymous regulations that are imposing burden after burden on small business and humanity in general and just everyday, ordinary people, impacting their freedoms and reducing them, political correctness is running rampant, people afraid to tell you what they really think about anything, Donald Trump blows it to smithereens, and look what happens when you do. They set out to destroy you. And all the while they get to occupy the perch of cleanliness and purity. They are the protectors. They are the guarantors of all that is precious and virtuous in this country. 

"... They are the exact opposite. These are the people systematically tearing down the traditions and institutions that have defined this country's greatness. And finally, somebody has decided to stand up and fight back against it. And that's not acceptable. So we have to lie about what he says, mischaracterize what he says and start acting like a bunch stuck pigs over it. You would think that Donald Trump had promised to start a civil war last night." -- Rush Limbaugh, October 20, 2016

This pretty much sums it up:

"My patience, I've worn out, folks, trying to be tolerant and understanding. These people are not who they say they are. They are not the way the media portrays them. You can make book on the fact that when they start complaining and whining about something, you can be sure they're the ones who are actually engaging in the activity that they are accusing us of engaging in."  -- Rush Limbaugh, October 20, 2016

Restricted?

Let me just tell you what Anti-American Liberal Communists all mainstream media are.  I just tried to watch the trailer to "The Enemies Within" -- a political movie that exposes Democrats as the crooked, Anti-American, liberal Communist/Socialist enemies within that they are -- and YouTube, part of the liberal mainstream media, restricted it!

I have my YouTube settings on restricted mode so I don't have to see all the garbage pop up when I watch an old country video.  Apparently YouTube considers anything exposing their precious democrats for who they really are as dangerous to me.  Get real!

Yet I am shocked at some of the things that YouTube lets through on restricted mode.  But a video exposing crooked politicians is blocked because it's dangerous to me?

What is this world coming to?

All I have to say is, "A have hope."

That's my two cents

Limbaugh quote

"Every Republican nominee is going to be destroyed. They're gonna make up things about 'em. Look, if they can make a walking Satan out of Mitt Romney, they can do it to anybody, and they have tried. They did it to John McCain. They tried with George H. W. Bush, certainly did it to George W. Bush. They tried over and over again with Reagan. There isn't a Republican nominee that they are not gonna demonize." -- Rush Limbaugh, October 18, 2016

RIP Uncle Ken

Just received the news that my great uncle Ken died this morning from prostate cancer.  His wife, my great aunt Evelyn passed away last year.  They were both exceptionally wonderful, loving people. 

I'm sure their reunion was very sweet.

They are both now undoubtedly in paradise in the spirit world doing the Lord's work.

RIP uncle Ken

I played around with Photoshop really quick to try to put a frame around a couple of pictures I cropped that Lisa took at aunt Evelyn's funeral last year.  This was my favorite.  It's not my best work but it'll do.  :-) I especially love the picture of uncle Ken and aunt Evelyn behind uncle Ken's left shoulder.

Aunt Evelyn, Me, Uncle Ken

January 12, 1992 -- My Mission Farewell

February 27, 2015

Thanks for the pictures Lisa!

Daily Message

"Healing blessings come in many ways, each suited to our individual needs, as known to Him who loves us best. Sometimes a “healing” cures our illness or lifts our burden. But sometimes we are “healed” by being given strength or understanding or patience to bear the burdens placed upon us."

—Dallin H. Oaks, "He Heals the Heavy Laden"

Crystal Clear

The Book of Mormon is awesome.  I always learn something from it every time I read or listen to it.  One of the things I really like about it is how clear it is in teaching doctrine.

One of my favorite teachers and prophets is King Benjamin.  He was a righteous Nephite king who was also the Prophet and lead his people in righteousness. When he was old and knew he wouldn't be around much longer King Benjamin wanted to address his people. He knew he could not address all the people in the temple because there were too many.  So he had a tower built that he could teach from.

All the people came with their families and pitched tents around the temple facing the tower so they could listen to their prophet and king address them. There were so many people that not all of them were within earshot -- obviously this is in the days before microphones (around 124 BC).  :-) -- So King Benjamin had his words written down so that the people that couldn't hear him, could read them. King Benjamin's address is recorded in Mosiah 2-5.

It is a wonderful sermon and well worth the short read.  King Benjamin is very clear and bold in proclaiming Christ's doctrine.

Anyway I gave all that preface just to say that this section I'm about to quote from King Benjamin's address really stood out to me when I listened to it not long ago.

Mosiah 2:36-41 

36 And now, I say unto you, my brethren, that after ye have known and have been taught all these things, if ye should transgress and go contrary to that which has been spoken, that ye do withdraw yourselves from the Spirit of the Lord, that it may have no place in you to guide you in wisdom’s paths that ye may be blessed, prospered, and preserved— 

37 I say unto you, that the man that doeth this, the same cometh out in open rebellion against God; therefore he listeth to obey the evil spirit, and becometh an enemy to all righteousness; therefore, the Lord has no place in him, for he dwelleth not in unholy temples. 

38 Therefore if that man repenteth not, and remaineth and dieth an enemy to God, the demands of divine justice do awaken his immortal soul to a lively sense of his own guilt, which doth cause him to shrink from the presence of the Lord, and doth fill his breast with guilt, and pain, and anguish, which is like an unquenchable fire, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever. 

39 And now I say unto you, that mercy hath no claim on that man; therefore his final doom is to endure a never-ending torment. 

40 O, all ye old men, and also ye young men, and you little children who can understand my words, for I have spoken plainly unto you that ye might understand, I pray that ye should awake to a remembrance of the awful situation of those that have fallen into transgression. 

41 And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it.

So many people nowadays seem to be easily swayed from the truth and are not only falling away from the Church but are openly rebelling against God.

In speaking boldly and plainly King Benjamin makes crystal clear what the consequences are for those who openly rebel against God after being taught the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I, for one, am not a fan of never-ending torment.  Yet so many once righteous followers of Christ are being deceived by Satan and are dropping like flies.

So many people with once strong testimonies of Christ are now openly rebelling by denying Christ and our Heavenly Father and many of them now persecute those who do believe.  Call it the last days or signs of the times -- which it certainly is.  I call it very sad.

I just hope that those who are in open rebellion against God will wise up and follow King Benjamin's advice to repent before it is too late.

That's my two cents.

Rigged

The left liberal media never ceases to astound in how they twist everything in their favor. They all know that elections are rigged.  They are the ones doing it!  Good thunder, Hillary Clinton didn't even win the primary election against crazy Bernie.  That's well documented that she rigged it. 

Now they are feigning shock that Donald Trump would have the audacity to claim that elections are rigged.  Here's more proof that they are all in cahoots-- They all said the exact same thing.  You can't tell me that didn't come straight from the Clinton campaign.

From Rush Limbaugh.com today:

"RUSH: Here's the media's latest effort to poison the water, muddy the water, and keep us in the sewer and the gutter to which they have taken us. We have a montage of Drive-Bys and Democrats reacting to the horrible, the just untenable, the unacceptable allegation that the election is rigged, by Donald Trump. 

BILL MAHER: I read 65% of his followers already believe it is a rigged election. This is dangerous talk. 

TIMOTHY O'BRIEN: It's a destructive and dangerous thing to do, questioning important institutions, and it’s very dangerous. 

RON BROWNSTEIN: Is this wrong? It is dangerous rhetoric.  

RYAN LIZZA: Trump is stirring up some really dangerous ideas in the electorate. 

BRET BAIER: Some people who’d say that the rigged talk is dangerous.

CHRIS STIREWALT: Dangerous energy that is out there when people feel like the system is rigged.

MATT LEWIS: It's very dangerous and irresponsible rhetoric. 

JULIE PACE: Incredibly dangerous.

HALLIE JACKSON: Dangerous to democracy. 

MARTHA RADDATZ: Trump has been ramping up the rhetoric about how the election is rigged. How dangerous is this? 

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: It’s dangerous feeling this election is going to be rigged. 

DAN BALZ: It’s dangerous strategy.

RUSH: Isn't it amazing how every one of them has the same exact take. Well, how about the danger posed to the Constitution by the Democrat Party? They want to take Trump's comment that the election is rigged, and he's talking about the media being unfair, he's talking about 95% of the media being in the tank for the Democrats, he's talking about the powerful rigging things so that they don't lose their power, the powerful do this in every walk of life. He's treating this with the reality he think exists.

They react in mock horror, "Oh my, What's happening to our precious institution?" You people who are destroying institution after institution are worried what Donald Trump is doing when he hasn't done anything. His fingerprints aren't on anything. You've destroyed the health care system. You've got open borders and destroy the very makeup of this country. You want to attack the founding of this country and transform this country into things it was never intended to be. And you say that Trump poses a danger?

Trump is the solution! Somebody like Trump is the solution. Somebody that's gonna put the brakes on the real danger that we are already in. This is incredible to me. (imitating media) "This is dangerous. Why, this is very dangerous. Why, the shocking attack on our institution." Shocking attack? What have you people done to marriage, for crying out loud! What are you doing to religion, for crying out loud! You attack virtually everything that identifies this country in its traditional, founding way. And Trump poses the danger?

The American Republican base isn't falling for this anymore. And as long as Trump keeps punching back, as long as Trump keeps fighting for what they believe, he's gonna continue to get their support. They're not gonna abandon him. And that's what all this is, is an attempt to shame people into abandoning Trump. "Oh, what a danger, why, he's a suggesting a rigged election." The dead elected JFK, for crying out loud, in Chicago and West Virginia. What do you mean, elections aren't rigged? Of course they are!" -- Rush Limbaugh, October 17, 2016

Rush Limbaugh went on to talk about how the Democrats would not give up in recount after recount in Florida trying to get Al Gore elected.  Finally the Supreme Court had to step in and say Florida went above and beyond and it was over.  They just wouldn't accept the will of the people.

Rush also went on to talk about how the Democrats go into slums and get busloads of people to take to the polls, tell them how to vote and take them home.

He also talked about Democrats making it unnecessary to show photo ID when you vote.  Good thunder, you have to show photo ID to pick up your mail at the post office.  But any illegal alien can vote.  Dead people vote. And they all vote Democrat. 

Here's another quote from Rush today: 

"But there's a guy out there with an account on social media. By the way, I need to add social media into this top 1% of deceit, this intricately woven web of deceit, you have the Democrats, Wall Street, media, and social media. I would throw them in. That's the top 1% that everybody needs to be concerned about. There is an account on social media from a guy claiming to work for the post office who is bragging about how he is destroying Trump absentee ballots."

If he were destroying Hillary ballots instead, the media would hunt him down and destroy him.

Fraud, deceit, immorality, lies, these are what make up the core of the Democratic Party and all liberals.  You can bet your bottom dollar that this election will be rigged in their favor.

That's my two cents.

CFP Week Seven

1. Tammy -14 tiebreaker 43
2. Rex -14 tie breaker 47
3. Kingston-14 Tiebreaker: 65
4. Lisa -16 tie breaker 27
5. Brandon -18 tiebreaker 27
6. Dad -19 Tiebreaker 54
7. Chanelle -20 tie breaker 32
8. Juliet-23 Tiebreaker: 63
9. Derrinda -23 tiebreaker 78
10. Mercedes -24 tie breaker 43
11. Mom -24 tiebreaker 56
12. Cody -30 tiebreaker 72
13. Elijah -31 tiebreaker 53

Actual tiebreaker 27

Ignorance Is Bliss?

Is ignorance really bliss?  Apparently many Americans think so.  Either that or they're just too ignorant to know that they're ignorant.  Many Americans are so buffaloed by the liberals and mainstream media that they don't understand that the Liberals and their anti-American anti-freedom anti-opposition agenda is what's causing all the problems in our country today.  It's so frustrating that so many people are hoodwinked.

From Rush Limbaugh.com:

"One of the most frustrating things about life in America today is how seemingly ignorant so many Americans seem to be about what's happening to them. I mean, they're living their lives, they're encountering obstacle after obstacle after obstacle -- be it student loan debt, be it no jobs, be it the rising cost of health care, be it cultural rot -- and they, for some reason, don't have the ability or understanding to understand why.

"And even when they're told, oftentimes they reject it. But most of what's happening in this country today that you would consider harder, an additional obstacle in your life? It's the result of policies that have been implemented over the years by people that believe in Big Government. There's some Republicans in this mix, too. But it's predominantly Democrats, it's predominantly liberalism, and it's predominantly done by people who want you and need you less productive, less self-reliant, less individualistic.

"They want you dependent on them. It's their key to holding on to power. But it goes beyond that. They don't just want power for the sake of it. They want power to transform and change. These are people who have never appreciated the miracle that is the United States of America. They've always resented it for whatever social injustice reason that they manufacture or come up with.

"Everybody knows something's not right. ...But for the most part there is a giant sense of unease, a giant sense that things are out of whack, that the nation's in decline. It's just that so many millions don't seem to be able to understand why.

"And that is probably one of the most frustrating things, 'cause I've spent 28 years behind this microphone trying to inform people of that, and it's very difficult. If they're committed leftists, they're not gonna believe it anyway. They're gonna believe some distorted version. They're gonna believe the country's in decline because of racism, or the country's in decline because of bigotry or the country's in decline because we never deserved to be a country anyway because of what we did to Indians, or some stupid explanation they have for feeling negative about things and the country.

"And there's no turning them. I mean, there's no persuading them. There's a lot of people out there in the middle who are not political. That's another thing I wish I could change. The Democrats have politicized everything.

"... My point is they politicize everything. Everything. They politicize virtually everything. Kindergarten's politicized. 

"...They just don't understand that it's the Democrats politicizing everything. So in not conforming with the Regime -- and that's what our presidency today is. It is a Regime, and the media has become the defenders and protectors of the Regime, and you can see it in who they choose to go after. They go after anybody who disagrees, anybody prominent who might be successful in turning people away from the Regime. That's who the media targets.

"So Trump is the current target. He's the GOP presidential nominee. These people on the left are not interested in debate; they're not interested in being coequals in the arena of ideas. They want to eliminate all opposition. They shouldn't have to suffer any opposition. Their arrogant and conceit is such that there is nothing else; there are no opposing views, and no matter how bad things are, "We're still the best. We're the only ones! Conservatism's a disease. It's a plague, and it has to be dealt with."

"...They exist to promote frauds. They exist to invest in fraudulent beliefs and policies. I keep hoping that the American people are gonna experience a great backlash over all this.

"When I stop and think how many Americans I know who readily know something is wrong, something's not right, this is not how America's supposed to be. There's supposed to be economic progress. You're not supposed to get older and things get harder. You're supposed to earn more money. You're supposed to be more successful as you get older. The economy is supposed to grow. Innovation is supposed to take place. None of that is happening. And the reason why is now completing his eighth year in the Oval Office. And somehow...he escapes all accountability." -- Rush Limbaugh October 14, 2016

The Scriptures even back up Rush Limbaugh: "For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things." --2 Nephi 2:11.   It's obvious who is running the Democratic Party and controlling all liberals.  Satan's plan does not include opposition.  His plan does not include agency.  Everything the Democrats and liberals stand for is what Satan stands for.  Satan wants complete control of us as do the Democrats/liberals. 

Ignorance is not bliss.  Lack of knowledge is lack of power and lack of control.  "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" -- Hosea 4:6.  I echo the words of the great prophet Nephi who said, " I am left to mourn because of the unbelief, and the wickedness, and the ignorance, and the stiffneckedness of men; for they will not search knowledge, nor understand great knowledge, when it is given unto them in plainness, even as plain as word can be." --2 Nephi 32:7 

Ignorance is certainly not bliss. Wake up America and see the wolf in the sheep's clothing.

That's my two cents.

Bottom Dwellers

Why do the Democrats always try to dig up dirt and sling mud?  Because they have no intrinsic redeeming value and the best they can do to try to win is to try to make their opponents look worse than they do.  Which would be a pretty tall order if people were smart enough to see through their lies.  But unfortunately a lot of people are ignorant and believe everything they hear in the media as gospel truth. They are blinded by the craftiness of the corrupt liberal media and their operatives.

Here's Rush Limbaugh today explaining why the Democrats are always slinging mud:

"You've got to remember, you've got to understand that they do this to every Republican nominee. They did it to John McCain. The New York Times ran a story about how he had an affair with somebody way back. I don't even remember the details. They did it to Newt Gingrich in the 2012 primaries.

"My point is, they did it to Mitt Romney, and I'm gonna keep saying this until some of you lug heads get the picture. Mitt Romney? You will not find a finer human being no matter how you define "fine human being" -- morality, virtue, manners, nice guy, harmless -- than Mitt Romney. And look what they did to him!

"They had people believing that he was cruel to animals. They had people believing that Mitt Romney didn't care when the wives of people who worked for him got cancer, that he didn't run in to help. He didn't increase their health benefits. He had no compassion for the families of people that worked for him whatsoever. Then they ran a story how he bullied some kid and pulled his hair or whatever in prep school, for crying out loud, if you remember that.

"They are going to do what they're doing to Trump to every Republican nominee, particularly now, when they have nothing to promote Hillary Clinton on. They can't promote her on the basis that people love her, that people love her ideas and her policies. This is a campaign that the media has to make Trump more disliked than Hillary is. That's why this looks like a race to the bottom, and that's because the media, the best way that they know to get Hillary elected is to make Trump a bigger negative that she than she is because there aren't any positives.

"I watched Obama this morning before the program. He's out there in Cleveland, and he's doing a rally trying to get everybody all focused on Hillary. But instead of doing that, he's running down Trump. He's denigrating Trump." -- Rush Limbaugh, October 14, 2016

The Democrats have no redeeming qualities.  There are no positives to the Democrat party. Hillary Clinton is not a likable person.  Even Joe Biden is out there campaigning for Hillary saying things like, "we know nobody likes Hillary, but we need to look past that".  Even Democrats don't like her. Hillary Clinton is a wet fish.  Not only is she not likable but she's a criminal.  They certainly can't campaign on the issues because they have a horrible record.  Things are much worse now in this country than they were before the Clinton's and Obama's came into power.  Even Bill Clinton called Obamacare crazy. Hillary Clinton is not campaigning because when she does, her numbers go down.  She's having other people campaign for her.

The Democrats, media, and especially the Hillary campaign are grasping at straws.  They know their only hope of winning is to try to destroy their opponent and make Trump look worse than Hillary because they have no redeeming qualities. If people in this country really knew what the liberal agenda was, Hillary wouldn't stand a chance in this election.

What's baffling is that their tactics work. Look what they did to Mitt Romney.  They had no dirt on him because there was none.  Yet they managed to convince people that he was cruel and uncaring.  It just goes to show you the power of the media and the ignorance of people.

It proves that the Liberals will do anything to gain power and promote their evil agenda to destroy our great nation. The Liberals, Democrats, Clinton's, media, etc. are bottom dwellers, scum of the earth.  The only chance they have of winning is to make their opponents look worse than they are by dragging them through the mud.  There is no depth that they will not descend below.  They are below bottom dwellers.

That's my two cents.

Democrat Summation

This quote from Rush Limbaugh today pretty much sums up the Democratic Party:

"The truth is that the modern Democrat Party is not the Democrat Party even JFK from the 1960s, not even the party of LBJ, not even George McGovern. So I mean, this Democrat Party today is an anti-American party in terms of the founding, anti-Constitution.  They don't believe the government should be limited.  They don't believe that people should have wanton freedom.  They want as many dependent people as possible.  

"But this is about transforming the country, and the easiest way to do it is to flood this country with people who don't speak the language and are not gonna learn it and can't assimilate and are not gonna have jobs and are not gonna have careers and are gonna thus be totally dependent on government.  Taxes are gonna go way up.  Jobs and wages are gonna go way down.  And, as such, the Democrats are gonna become empowered and wealthier and richer and walled off from the America they are creating.  

"Because none of what they're importing and creating is gonna reside anywhere near Washington or Manhattan or the Hamptons or Vail or Beaver Creek or Lake Tahoe or Seattle or wherever they hole up. Atherton, California, wherever they are, those places are not going to be subjected to the America that will result from all of this that Mrs. Clinton and Barack Obama want to do.  And convincing people that is one of the toughest sells.   

"It's one of the toughest sales jobs, because people can't get their arms around that. Why would anybody want to do that?  Why would anybody want to destroy America? "Rush, they're not saying that.  They want America to be better.  They want America to be more fair.  They want it to be equal."  No, no. That's just how they're getting you to not pay attention to what they're doing or to actually agree with it and facilitate it. But if they get away with it, you're not gonna recognize the country.  

"There's always gonna be an America. It's just that it's not gonna be the America that was founded.  They can't coexist with the America that was founded.  The America that was founded has a Constitution which limits the power, limits the freedom, limits the role of government.  Their whole agenda is controlling government, expanding it.  It's just the acquisition of more and more power.  It's a tough thing to convince people of.  But that's what this set of emails is about." -- Rush Limbaugh, October 13, 2016

 Hillary Clinton, the Obama regime, the Democratic Party and all liberal leftists all have the same agenda: to acquire more power by destroying the United States of America which was founded on a Constitution which limits government power.  They want to take away our freedoms and grow the government thereby increasing their own power.  That's what it boils down to.

What's unfathomable to me is that the American people actually believe the ridiculous lies told by the corrupt media, Democratic Party, Clinton, the Obama regime, and all liberals. Wake up to reality people.  Neither Hillary, Barack, nor anyone in the Democratic Party have your best interests at heart.  They are all just power hungry liberals who want to destroy this great nation of ours. And will do whatever it takes to destroy it.

That's my two cents.