Playing Hard to Forget

I've been on an Eddy Raven kick for some time now. My all-time favorite Eddy Raven song is "I Got Mexico".  I've seen all the YouTube versions and listened to it on repeat on iTunes many times. My second favorite Eddy Raven song is a little more obscure.  In fact I could only find one live version of it on YouTube.  It was released in June 1982 -- I looked it up.  :-) It's called, "She's Playing Hard to Forget".  It was Eddy Raven's first song to hit the top 10.  By the way, I Got Mexico was his first number one. Anyway here is Eddy Raven singing "She's Playing Hard to Forget" on Austin City Limits. 

Do any of you remember that song?  Not only is that song tighter than TB and 4 Barrel, as Juliet would say, but so is Eddy Raven's hair.  :-)  Brings me back to my childhood.  852.  :-)  

My favorite verse: 

I'm wondering if I don't still love you
I'm feeling the pain of regret
Giving you up won't be easy
'Cause you're playing hard to forget 

Chorus:
You're playing hard to forget
I'm still not over you yet
You're just an old memory I can't put to rest
You're playing hard to forget

That pretty much sums up the way all my old flames feel about me I'm sure.  :-)

That's my two cents.

Weak Panseric Liberals

In perusing Rush Limbaugh.com I came across a headline that caught my attention.  So I clicked on it and read the transcript. I thought it was blog worthy so I took the time to copy a few quotes from Rush Limbaugh.com.  I'll let you read it then I'll add my two cents. :-)

RUSH: This is a story resulting from a research study at Brunel University in London. “Physically Weak Men More Likely to Be Socialists.” ...“Surprise, surprise. Men who are physically weak are more likely to favor socialist policies. An academic study from researchers at Brunel University London assessed 171 men, looking at their height, weight, overall physical strength and bicep circumference, along with their views on redistribution of wealth and income inequality. 

“The study, published in the Evolution and Human Behavior journal,...found that weaker men were more likely to favor socialist policies than stronger men. ... 

"Now, this story hit home for me obviously because of the circumstance that happened up there in Montana. But I myself — and I’ve mentioned this before — I imagine a lot of people will not remember me having said it because I didn’t make a big deal of it, didn’t do a whole segment on it.  But I have wondered — Snerdley will back me on this — over the years I have openly wondered out loud here how... real men could possibly be liberal. I have never understood it, in a psychological sense. I understand propaganda, brainwashing, environmental influences growing up, the role of parents, teachers and so forth. But throw that stuff out, I have never understood it. It just intellectually, as far as common sense, doesn’t compute with me. 

"...they point out that it’s weak and small and Pajama Boy types that are more likely to be socialists. The theory is that because they do not have the confidence born of a powerful personal stature, that they need outside forces fighting their battles for them to ensure that they are not thrown overboard, under the bus. That they’re not beaten up, that they are not bullied and made fun of. So they come along and they support large, forceful, powerful authorities over everybody to equalize things. 

"And on the other hand, big, strong, manly, studly guys, they gravitate the other way, and they don’t want equality because they already know that they’re bigger, stronger, and more powerful that the wusses out there and they don’t want anybody coming along elevating the wusses to artificial strength and artificial power when they can’t acquire all of that on their own. ... 

"So physically weak men more likely to be socialist. You can understand how that headline captivated me on the very day the studly and manly Gianforte threw that dishrag Pajama Boy reporter down to the ground." -- RushLimbaugh.com, May 26, 2017

I found this study fascinating coming from a university in liberal London.  But the results make complete sense.  Not only from a biological and psychological standpoint but also from common sense and observation.

Just look at our last two presidents.  Trump is a complete alpha male and Obama is a panseric non-manly wimp.  My own observation and thinking of the liberal acquaintances I know of, they are the epitome of all around weak pansies.  And I would go farther than this study in saying that not only are liberals physically weak but they are generally intellectually and spiritually weak.

Granted, there are exceptions where athletes or otherwise physically strong males are liberals. They've obviously been brainwashed by liberalism.  Unfortunately, our increasingly liberal society is teaching men that being strong and manly is unbecoming. So even strong macho men are being brainwashed into thinking their masculinity is somehow a flaw.  Men are taught to be more feminine and women are taught to be more masculine by liberalism.  Completely counterintuitive and against God's design.  Another example where liberalism goes against common sense.

Liberalism is terribly destructive.  Not only does it weaken society, but it also contributes to the weakening of individuals.  Liberals have no common sense, they are intellectually weak. They like to pretend like they're smarter than everyone else but it's a charade. They obviously don't live in the real world.  Liberals are spiritually weak, many are atheist or agnostic.  And those who aren't are increasingly turning away from God.  And of course we just learned from this study that liberals are physically weak. A rather obvious observation to those of us living in the real world.

I don't know which came first, weakness or liberalism -- but they certainly go hand-in-hand. I have noticed that those who were once strong spiritually and have become weak, generally turn to liberalism.  I'm sure it applies to other areas where people become weak. Either way, liberals are weak, weak, weak people.

That's my two cents.

Mercedes' Missionary Farewell

Mercedes had her farewell this past Sunday.  It was a beautiful day all around.  Chanelle, Lisa, and Mercedes all spoke.  They all did a fantastic job.  It was a wonderful spiritual meeting.  Mercedes had a lot of support with family and friends.  Afterwards, we all came back to our house and had a barbecue and typical farewell get-together.  :-)

My beautiful missionary niece.  :-)

Mercedes will be serving in the Utah Ogden Mission.

She enters the MTC on May 31.

Family portrait

What a good-looking family.  Especially the one with the yellow headband ;-).

Mercedes worked hard making this cute missionary cake and cupcakes below.

I'm so proud of Mercedes for choosing to serve a full-time mission.  I'm proud of how hard she worked to qualify and prepare to serve.  I'm excited for her to embark on this wonderful, exciting journey.  Missionary work is hard but also very rewarding.  I'm sure she'll have a fun, challenging, and very rewarding experience.

And Mercedes, if you ever feel overwhelmed and not up to the task, just remember what your wise old aunt once said in her first letter home from the mission field, "I am scared to death but don't worry, I'll get over it."  :-)

Mercedes will be a wonderful asset to the Utah Ogden Mission.  I can't wait to start hearing all of her wonderful mission stories. Good luck Mercedes as you embark on your exciting new journey as a full-time missionary!

That's my two cents.

President Trump Quote

"Over the course of your life, you will find that things are not always fair. You will find that things happen to you that you do not deserve and that are not always warranted. But you have to put your head down and fight, fight, fight. Never, ever, ever give up. Things will work out just fine. ...

"Adversity makes you stronger. Don’t give in. Don’t back down, and never stop doing what you know is right. Nothing worth doing ever, ever, ever came easy. And the more righteous your fight, the more opposition that you will face." -- President Donald Trump, May 17, 2017, Coast Guard Academy Commencement Address

Wise words from The President of the United States Of America. The last line especially resonated with me.  All I have to say is amen President Trump, amen!

That's my two cents.

Fortune Cookies

I don't often eat Chinese food but when I do cracking open the fortune cookie and reading my fortune is the best part. Most of the time the fortune is quite accurate.

My fortune cookie today was no exception.  It says, "MANY PEOPLE ARE SEEKING YOU FOR YOUR SOUND ADVICE".

As well they should.  And yes, many do.  :-)

That's my two cents.

My Famous Relatives

My niece, Mercedes, sent me a link to a cool website.  If you have a family tree on familysearch.org you can go to relativefinder.org and login to your family search account and they will generate a list of famous relatives for you.  It's really fun!  They even detail how you are related and who your common ancestor is.

So just for fun, I thought it would share some of my famous relatives with you.  :-)

My closest famous relative is Andy Griffith who is my fourth cousin twice removed.

John Howland and Elizabeth Tilley are my 11th great grandparents who came over on the Mayflower.

George Washington is my first cousin nine times removed.  His mother and my eighth great-grandmother were sisters.

Anne Stuart (Queen of England) is my11th great-aunt. I should've known I come from British royalty.  :-)

Charles Stuart (Charles II king of England) is my 12th great-uncle.

James VI and James I Stuart (King of Scotland as James VI and England and Ireland as James I) is my 13th great-grandfather.

Dolly Payne Madison is my second cousin eight times removed.

Frederick II of Denmark is my 14th great grandfather.

Henry David ThoreauIt is my fourth cousin six times removed.

Laura Ingalls Wilder is my fifth cousin four times removed.

Mary "Queen of Scots" Stuart is my 14th great-grandmother.

Brigham Young is my fifth cousin five times removed.

Joseph Smith is my fourth cousin seven times removed.

Patsy Cline is my sixth cousin three times removed.

Calvin Coolidge is my sixth cousin four times removed.

David A. Bednar is my seventh cousin twice removed.

John Hancock is my fourth cousin eight times removed.

Joseph F. Smith is my 5th cousin six times removed.

Lorenzo Snow is my fourth cousin eight times removed.

Louis l'Amour is my seventh cousin two times removed.

Walt Disney is my sixth cousin four times removed.

William Shakespeare is my first cousin 14 times removed.

Charles Darwin is my fifth cousin eight times removed.

Donna Reed and Elizabeth Montgomery are both my eighth cousin twice removed.

Eli Whitney is my sixth cousin six times removed.

Gordon B. Hinckley is my eighth cousin twice removed.

Merle Haggard is my ninth cousin. Dad was most excited about this.  :-)

Merlin Olsen is my eighth cousin twice removed.

Philo T. Farnsworth is my seventh cousin four times removed.

Rita Hayworth is my eighth cousin twice removed.

Robert Frost is my eighth cousin twice removed.

Robin Williams is my ninth cousin.

Benedict Arnold is my sixth cousin seven times removed.

Herman Melville is my sixth cousin seven times removed.

Johnny Depp is my ninth cousin once removed.

Lavell Edwards is my eighth cousin three times removed. I'm sure Lisa is excited about this one.  :-)

Thomas S. Monson is my ninth cousin once removed.

Spencer W. Kimball is my eighth cousin three times removed.

John Adams is my sixth cousin eight times removed.

George H. W. Bush is my 10th cousin.

Harper Lee, Humphrey Bogart, Henry Fonda, Bing Crosby are all my ninth cousin twice removed.

Lucille Ball is my ninth cousin twice removed.

Abraham Lincoln is my eighth cousin five times removed.

Debbie Reynolds is my 10th cousin once removed.

Doc Holliday is my eighth cousin five times removed.

Judy Garland is my 10th cousin once removed.

Thomas Jefferson is my seventh cousin seven times removed.

Wilbur Wright is my ninth cousin three times removed.

William Faulkner is my 10th cousin once removed.

Vincent Price is my 10th cousin once removed.

Davy Crockett is my eighth cousin six times removed.

Jesse James is my 11th cousin.

Marilyn Monroe is my 11th cousin.

Richard Nixon is my 11th cousin.

Butch Cassidy is my 11th cousin once removed.

Wyatt Earp is my ninth cousin four times removed.

Johnny Cash is my 11th cousin once removed.

Karen Carpenter is my 11th cousin once removed.

Ronald Reagan is my 11th cousin once removed.

Don Knotts is my 11th cousin twice removed

Elvis Presley is my 11th cousin twice removed. Mom was excited about this.  Unfortunately for Dad, it is Mom's relation not his.

Clyde Barrow (Bonnie and Clyde) is my 11th cousin twice removed.

Farrah Fawcett is my 11th cousin twice removed

Gene Autry is my 11th cousin twice removed.

Robert Louis Stevenson is my 10th cousin four times removed.

James E. Talmage is my 11th cousin three times removed.

Jane Austen is my 10th cousin five times removed.

Susan B. Anthony is my 11th cousin three times removed.

Henry (Billy the Kid) McCarty is my 12th cousin twice removed.

M. Russell Ballard is my 12th cousin twice removed.

Charles Lindbergh is my 12th cousin twice removed.

Jeffrey R. Holland is my 13th cousin once removed.

John Dillinger is my 14th cousin.

David O. McKay is my 14th cousin once removed.

Larry Hagman is my 15th cousin.

Those are a select few of my famous relatives.  Granted, they are all very distant and I probably don't share any DNA with any of them.  If I do it's miniscule.  The list is somewhat in order of relation.  The top of the list being the more closely related and the bottom more distant.

I skipped a lot of the United States presidents and their wives and also a lot of the Church leaders and their wives.  I have 490 relatives on my list and I just selected a few of the more well-known ones to me.  Or the ones I'm most related to. Or that I just thought were fun to list. It just goes to show that if you go back far enough you can find relations to just about anybody.  I think they go back 16 generations on this particular website.

Anyway, this was fun for me and I hope you enjoyed looking over some of my famous relatives.  :-)

That's my two cents.

Relief Society Lesson -- The Precious Gift of Testimony

“It’s true, isn’t it? Then what else matters?”
I met a naval officer from a distant nation, a brilliant young man who had been brought to the United States for advanced training. Some of his associates in the United States Navy, whose behavior had attracted him, shared with him at his request their religious beliefs. He was not a Christian, but he was interested. They told him of the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ, born in Bethlehem, who gave his life for all mankind. They told him of the appearance of God, the Eternal Father, and the resurrected Lord to the boy Joseph Smith. They spoke of modern prophets. They taught him the gospel of the Master. The Spirit touched his heart, and he was baptized.

He was introduced to me just before he was to return to his native land. We spoke of these things, and then I said: “Your people are not Christians. What will happen when you return home a Christian, and, more particularly, a Mormon Christian?”

His face clouded, and he replied, “My family will be disappointed. They may cast me out and regard me as dead. As for my future and my career, all opportunity may be foreclosed against me.”

I asked, “Are you willing to pay so great a price for the gospel?”

His dark eyes, moistened by tears, shone from his handsome brown face as he answered, “It’s true, isn’t it?”

Ashamed at having asked the question, I responded, “Yes, it’s true.”

To which he replied, “Then what else matters?”

These are questions I should like to leave with you: “It’s true, isn’t it? Then what else really matters?”

A new outlook on life
I once listened to the experience of an engineer who recently had joined the Church. The missionaries had called at his home, and his wife had invited them in. She had eagerly responded to their message, while he felt himself being pulled in against his will. One evening she indicated that she wished to be baptized. He flew into a fit of anger. Didn’t she know what this would mean? This would mean time. This would mean the payment of tithing. This would mean giving up their friends. This would mean no more smoking. He threw on his coat and walked out into the night, slamming the door behind him. He walked the streets, swearing at his wife, swearing at the missionaries, swearing at himself for ever permitting them to teach them. As he grew tired his anger cooled, and a spirit of prayer somehow came into his heart. He prayed as he walked. He pleaded with God for an answer to his questions.

And then an impression, clear and unequivocal, came almost as if a voice had spoken with words that said, “It’s true.”

“It’s true,” he said to himself again and again. “It’s true.” A peace came into his heart. As he walked toward home, the restrictions, the demands, the requirements over which he had been so incensed began to appear as opportunities. When he opened the door, he found his wife on her knees praying.

… Before the congregation to whom he told this, he spoke of the gladness that had come into their lives. Tithing was not a problem. The sharing of their substance with God, who had given them everything, seemed little enough. Time for service was not a problem. This only required a little careful budgeting of the hours of the week. Responsibility was not a problem. Out of it came growth and a new outlook on life. And then this man of intellect and training, this engineer accustomed to dealing with the facts of the physical world in which we live, bore solemn testimony with moistened eyes of the miracle that had come into his life.

“The most precious thing in my life”
Some years ago a brilliant and highly educated young woman spoke in Berchtesgaden, Germany, to a conference of military personnel who were members of the Church. I was there and heard her. She was a major in the army, a medical doctor, a highly respected specialist in her field. She said:

“More than anything else in the world I wanted to serve God. But try as I might I could not find him. The miracle of it all is that he found me. One Saturday afternoon in September 1969 I was at home in Berkeley, California, and heard my doorbell ring. There were two young men there, dressed in suits, with white shirts and ties. Their hair was neatly combed. I was so impressed with them that I said: ‘I don’t know what you’re selling, but I’ll buy it.’ One of the young men said: ‘We aren’t selling anything. We’re missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and we would like to talk with you.’ I invited them to come in, and they spoke about their faith.

 “This was the beginning of my testimony. I am thankful beyond words for the privilege and honor of being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The joy and peace this glad gospel has brought to my heart is heaven on earth. My testimony of this work is the most precious thing in my life, a gift from my Heavenly Father, for which I will be eternally thankful.”

My handout:

Testimony

My Relief Society lesson today is on testimony.  I just read this scripture this morning that goes along beautifully with my lesson.

"...And Nephi did minister with power and with great authority.

And it came to pass that they were angry with him, even because he had greater power than they, for it were not possible that they could disbelieve his words, for so great was his faith on the Lord Jesus Christ..." -- 3 Nephi 7:17-18

Nephi bore such a strong testimony that the people could not possibly disbelieve him.  Testimony is power.  May we all strive to develop a testimony as strong and powerful as Nephi's.

That's my two cents.

My New Favorite Scripture

I just read this scripture in my daily Book of Mormon reading and I love it!  I think it's now become my favorite Scripture. It is the prophet Mormon speaking but it applies to everyone who has been baptized and made covenants to follow Jesus Christ. And might I add continues to strive to follow Him.  That's what a true disciple is.  It is especially applicable to full-time missionaries.  (Shout out to Mercedes. 😊)

"Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life." -- 3 Nephi 5:13