Quote of the Day

"Our children today are growing up surrounded by voices urging them to abandon that which is right and to pursue, instead, the pleasures of the world. Unless they have a firm foundation in the gospel of Jesus Christ, a testimony of the truth, and a determination to live righteously, they are susceptible to these influences. It is our responsibility to fortify and protect them."

—Thomas S. Monson, "Three Goals to Guide You"

Relief Society Lesson -- Redemption

Redemption

By Elder D. Todd Christofferson

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

April 2013 General Conference

Among the most significant of Jesus Christ’s descriptive titles is Redeemer.

The word redeem means to pay off an obligation or a debt.

Redeem can also mean to rescue or set free as by paying a ransom.

Dictionary definition of Redemption by Jesus Christ through His Atonement --“to deliver from sin and its penalties, as by a sacrifice made for the sinner”

The Savior’s Redemption has two parts:

1-Overcoming the direct effects of the Fall—physical death and spiritual death.

 

universal and without condition

2-Overcoming the indirect consequences of the Fall – our own sins.

Conditional - repentance

 “Wherefore, teach it unto your children, that all men, everywhere, must repent, or they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God, for no unclean thing can dwell there, or dwell in his presence” --Moses 6:57

The Savior’s suffering in Gethsemane and His agony on the cross redeem us from sin by satisfying the demands that justice has upon us. He extends mercy and pardons those who repent.

The Atonement also satisfies the debt justice owes to us by healing and compensating us for any suffering we innocently endure.

The greatest service we can provide to others in this life, beginning with those of our own family, is to bring them to Christ through faith and repentance so they may experience His Redemption—peace and joy now and immortality and eternal life in the world to come.

We can also assist in the Lord’s redemption of those beyond the grave. With the benefit of vicarious rites we offer them in the temples of God, even those who died in bondage to sin can be freed.

While the most important aspects of redemption have to do with repentance and forgiveness, there is a very significant temporal aspect as well. This kind of redemptive work means helping people with their problems. Much of our redemptive work on earth is to help others grow and achieve their just hopes and aspirations.

As disciples of Jesus Christ, we ought to do all we can to redeem others from suffering and burdens.  Even so, our greatest redemptive service will be to lead them to Christ.

Without His Redemption from death and from sin, we have only a gospel of social justice.  That may provide some help and reconciliation in the present, but it has no power to draw down from heaven perfect justice and infinite mercy.

Ultimate redemption is in Jesus Christ and in Him alone.

Wonderful Counsel from the Prophet

"Let us relish life as we live it, find joy in the journey and share our love with friends and family. One day, each of us will run out of tomorrows. Let us not put off what is most important."

—Thomas S. Monson, "Love at Home--Counsel from Our Prophet"

Education -- A Religious Responsibility

"In the Church, obtaining an education and getting knowledge are a religious responsibility. We educate our minds so that one day we can render service of worth to somebody else."

—Russell M. Nelson, "Focus on Values"

I received this quote in my inbox yesterday. I guess it struck me because I had been dealing with people who are seemingly so uneducated. I know that education has always been emphasized in the church. But I didn’t realize that it was actually a responsibility of ours as members of the church so that we can render service to others.

 

Anyway, I just thought I would share this gem from one of the apostles with you.

KD Construction Review

I normally would not put this review on my blog but, I’m so tired of dealing with dishonest, greedy people that I want others to be aware. If anyone is looking to do business with KD Construction, I will tell you my experience with them.

I am including an e-mail dialogue I had with Ken Douvier of KD construction. But if you don’t want to read all of that, I will summarize my experience for you.

We had some water damage/mold in our basement due to a pinhole in a copper pipe in a water heater. KD construction did the repair work after it was cleaned up.

To try to make a long story short:

I asked for detailed invoice on the work done. Ken said they didn’t have one, that they went off of what the insurance estimate was. This turned out to be not true, as he later produced it as per my mom’s request.

We were billed for sealing and painting of the ceiling in two large rooms. The bill was for over 1800 ft.² of ceiling that was never painted.

We were also billed for moving and breaking down furniture and hauling it upstairs into a storage container outside. There was never a storage container on site. No furniture was moved up any stairs. No games were broken down. The most that was done was moving furniture from one room to another as the carpet was installed.

The total bill for those items that were never done was over $4700.00.

The insurance estimate calls for a new cabinet for over $3100.00.KD construction opted to rebuild the box and reuse all of the old drawers, doors, and hardware. And still bill over $3100.00 for a new cabinet.

They will tell you satisfaction guaranteed, but when you are not satisfied with their work, they don’t do anything to fix it and still bill you the full amount even after asking for a discount because of poor quality workmanship.

The cabinet box was finished in semi gloss varnish and the wood looks like a much lower quality than the original cabinet. The doors and drawers are more of a matte finish and higher, tighter grained, wood quality. It just doesn’t match. It looks terrible. Then as you see if you read the e-mail, Ken has the audacity to tell me it looks great and I should think that it looks great also. First of all, for someone who writes an opinion blog, I don’t take kindly to people telling me what my opinion should be.

 When Ken was told that their work here was not complete, we are still missing a doorknob and an earthquake strap on a hot water heater pot. He tells me that there was never a strap and they will not replace the doorknob because they didn’t throw it out, the cleanup crew did.

When I send photographic proof that indeed a strap was on the pot, then he changes his tune and agrees that there was, but blames the cleanup crew again for removing it, when in fact we have another photograph that proves the strap was on after the cleanup crew left. Therefore it was KD construction that removed the strap.

Honestly, he made thousands of dollars, probably tens of thousands of dollars profit on this job (dishonestly in my opinion) and he is refusing to finish a couple measly items.

In his last e-mail to me he mentions coming here to fix our hot water. They did come, but did not fix the hot water. It wasn’t fixed until a couple months later. He also mentions an under mount sink that he says I requested. First of all, I would never request an under mount sink because I prefer over mount sinks. That is what we have in our kitchen. They told us they could get us a larger sink. Nothing was mentioned about under mount. And truthfully, I don’t think the sink is any bigger. If I would have known I was going to be charged for a new sink as part of the upgrade, I never would have agreed. I would have just preferred to use the old sink.

In my experience talking with Ken Douvier on the telephone, is that he talks a mile a minute and will not let you get a word in edgewise. And the only time he called is when he wanted money. I never had a conversation with him when he did not mention money. In fact, one of his crew members when requesting a check, made the comment that Ken likes money.

One more thing, there were several times when the time was agreed upon for them to come out here and they were quite late.

So, needless to say, I would not recommend doing business with KD Construction of Auburn,  Washington. They cut costs whenever they can, at the expense of the homeowner, i.e. cabinet, but still bill the insurance company the full price and charge for services never rendered i.e. ceiling paint, phantom storage containers, labor for moving furniture into phantom storage containers, etc. In my opinion, they are a greedy, dishonest company.

That’s my two cents.

If you’re still interested, you can read my e-mail conversation with Ken Douvier below:

Ken,

 

I received your invoice today. I do have a few items I want to discuss with you on the invoice. First of all let me say that I want to pay a fair price for honest work. I am in no way trying to get out of paying what I owe.

 

I do take issue with items we were charged for, that were not done. Please note the following items taken directly from your invoice:

 

18.  Seal more than the ceiling w/latex based stain blocker - two coats 1,120.52 SF @ 0.54 = 605.08

19.  Paint more than the ceiling - two coats 1,120.52 SF @ 0.62 = 694.72

34.  Seal more than the ceiling w/latex based stain blocker - two coats 709.50 SF @ 0.54 = 383.13

35.  Paint more than the ceiling - two coats 709.50 SF @ 0.62 = 439.89

 

Rental/moving

DESCRIPTION QNTY UNIT COST TOTAL

85.  General Laborer - per hour 56.00 HR @ 41.09 = 2,301.04

THIS IS THE LABOR TO MOVE ALL CONTENTS DOWNSTAIRS INTO A STORAGE CONTAINER WHILE THE CARPET

IS BEING REMOVED AND REPLACED AND THE DRYWALL REPAIRS ARE BEING COMPLETED, THIS INCLUDES

BREAKING DOWN THE GAMES IN THE PLAY ROOM, THE BEDROOM FURNITURE, ECT.  THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY IN AND OUT OF THE HOME THAT IS MORE TIME CONSUMING TO MOVE THESE ITEMS FROM THE HOME AND BACK INTO THE HOME.

86.  Job-site moving/storage container - 20' long - per month 1.00 MO @ 185.00 = 185.00

87.  Delivery charge (Bid item) 1.00 EA @ 180.00 = 180.00

THIS IS THE CHARGE TO DROP OFF AND PICK UP THE CONTAINER

n  -- -- -- -- -- --

 

The ceilings were not painted in the media room or ping-pong room. Perhaps a small portion where the ceiling abutted the walls that were repaired. But not even close to over 1800 ft.² of ceiling was painted in those two rooms which we were charged for.

 

There was no storage container delivered here. Therefore the furniture was not moved from the basement into a storage container. The furniture was moved from one room to another in the basement. Not nearly 56 hours worth of labor. No games were broken down. The most that was done was the ping-pong table is folded in half.

 

Please explain to me why we were charged for these services that were not performed.

 

Also, the math doesn’t add up on the granite upgrade. You forgot to include the price of the sink the insurance company allowed for. I believe it was $115.85.  Added to the $430 the total is $545.85.subtracting that from the $1200 invoice for the granite and sink we get $654.15which should be the price of the upgrade.

 

According to my calculations we were billed $4788.86 for work that was not performed by your company. This is the total adding lines 18, 19, 34, 35, 85, 86, 87. Even allowing for painting a small portion of the ceiling next to where the walls were replaced and for moving the furniture from one room to another while the carpet was installed, we were still overbilled by several thousand dollars.

 

Even taking the $1,654.15 for the deductible and upgrade into consideration, I still feel that the insurance company has overpaid you. I feel like you have not been honest with us. Billing for services not rendered is not an honest business practice.

 

Also, I’m still not satisfied with the cabinet. The quality is much lower than the original cabinet. I feel that it was dishonest of you to use the old doors, drawers, and hardware from the original cabinet and bill us over $3000 for a new cabinet.

 

And finally, I’m sure you are aware that you have not completed the job here. We are still missing an Emtek diamond crystal doorknob installed and earthquake straps on the pot by the hot water tanks.

 

Will you please review my concerns and reply as soon as possible? Thank you. Again, I am an honest person and want the same in return. Please just be honest and fair.

 

Sincerely,

 

Tammy Stone

Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2013 18:46:04 -0400
Subject: Re:
From: kendouvier@yahoo.com
To: drbarbiedpm@hotmail.com

There was no straps on the air tank there were only straps on the hot water tanks, and when it comes to the moving of items we put in the estimate what we think we will have to do but if we can get it done an easier way than that's good for us we will make some money on the entire job, I came to an agreement with the insurance company on a price to complete the job not with you so if I can get the job done with an easier method than that's great. Yes Paul said we still need a foot knob but the cabinets look great we have Picts of them and the cabinet maker agrees and so should you the cabinets were install for over a week before we installed the granite and if there was a problem you should have told us during that time before we installed the granite. I don't have the paperwork with me but I'm sure they only paid for detach and reset of the sink not pay to replace it with an undermount sink so my paperwork is correct. I will go over paperwork when I get back to the office tomorrow

Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE DROID

From: Tammy Stone
To: Ken
Sent: Thursday, August 1, 2013 11:23 AM
Subject: RE:

-->

Ken,

as you can see in the above picture there is an earthquake strap on the water heater pot.

Also, to help you make sure that you get the right doorknob, I am including a link to emtek's website. http://emtek.com/Passage-Privacy-Knobs/diamond-crystal-knob It is the diamond crystal doorknob with oval rosette in satin nickel. That is the doorknob that was on the door that was thrown out.

Concerning the cabinet, I disagree with you that it looks great. I will forever cringe when I look at it. The box was finished with semi gloss varnish. And the  Original doors and drawers are more of a matte finish. It just doesn't match. The reason I was not able to go look at it before the granite was installed is because I was suffering from pneumonia for six weeks and was extremely ill.

I would appreciate it if you would consider discounting the invoice because the cabinet does not meet my standard of quality.

Thank you,

Tammy Stone 
 

---

Date: Thu, 1 Aug 2013 13:01:54 -0700
From: kendouvier@yahoo.com
Subject: Re:
To: drbarbiedpm@hotmail.com

Yes your correct I just looked back at my picts and they match yours, but KD Const Inc didn't remove the air tank or strap and we didn't put it in our estimate to remove and reset it nor did we put anything about the strap, we would of put it back on but the demo company must of thrown it away because it wasn't there when we did the repairs, you can bill your insurance company to have someone come do it for you and you can also bill your insurance company to have someone re-level your pool table, we didn't put that in our estimate. Ive seen the finished work at your house by the picts taken and everything looks great, the cabinets look great also, the cabinet maker and my employees and the picts show a nice looking set of cabinets installed and we are happy with that.

 

.But for the rest of the job the insurance paid to detach and reset the the sink and we did that but you wanted a new undermount sink and therefore you have to pay for the new undermount sink we had installed.  Bryan said there was other painting that he did that wasn't on the estimate but yes he didn't paint some of the ceilings but that money goes towards the the money I lost negotiating with your insurance company to get paid for the estimate that KD Const Inc wrote up and you signed the contract with me and that also goes with the moving of the contents, if we can get it done quicker using a different method than that is good for us but if we have to remove everything outside then there is a buffer for that expense.  Your insurance company didn't pay the entire invoice that I billed them for work completed and we negotiated a much lower price than I wanted but we had to so we could get paid, so  my invoice is correct and I feel hurt that you would say we were a dis honest company, We came into your home and helped with getting you hot water ASAP during the demo and even came back over the weekend to pick up the part to have is repaired by a plumber at no extra charge, we came and worked on your schedule, we repaired over 60% or your water damage before receiving any money, we offered you an upgraded countertop at our cost, we had our plumber come out and repair the plumbing in the hot water tank room and repaired some plumbing in the wall also.  I feel we have been totally honest and professional and got the job completed quickly.

 

Just so you know with insurance work we write up the estimate on what we think it will take to complete repairs to a job to the best of our ability and sometimes we miss things but some times insurances like AMFAM don't pay everything or they force us to take less money for items and repairs so when we find ways to complete work quicker like moving items from one room to another instead of bringing them outside into a container we make of for some of the losses that the insurance companies do want to pay for.

 

KD Const didn't remove the door or knob or the air tank strap and they were missing when we came to do the repairs, you should bill your insurance company for these items.

 

KD Const Inc has no problem at all coming out and installing the strap for the air tank, and installing the new door handle but we wont do it until we receive our final payment in full, we have been upfront and honest on all the repairs, we have came to work on the dates we agreed on and will come finish the last 2 items that we didn't even bill the insurance company for when we receive the final payment in full. $1770.00

2nd Annual Stone 5K

Is everybody ready for the best 5K race ever organized? J

Yes, it’s time again for the Stone 5K! Everyone who ran it last year can attest to how awesome it was. Once again there will be T-shirts for all participants and the one dollar prize for all finishers may return.

Date: Saturday, August 24, 2013

Time: 10:00 AM

Place: start/finish at the top of the driveway (same course as last year)

The kids race to the gate and back, approximately ½ mile, will follow the 5K. Approximately 10:45-11:00  AM.

Come join the fun!

20 Years

20 years ago today I flew home from Tampa, Florida after serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints for 18 months. That experience was a pivotal time in my life. It was tough but I wouldn’t change it for anything. Serving a mission is something you never regret. In fact, serving a mission has such a profound effect on your life that you tend to separate your life into, before my mission and after my mission.

It’s hard to believe it’s been 20 years since I stepped off a plane in Salt Lake City to greet my family who were eagerly awaiting my arrival. That was back in the days when family could actually  greet you at the terminal when you stepped off the plane. I still remember it quite well.

Serving a mission is such an accelerated learning/growing experience. I have always said that I learned more in the 18 months in Florida serving the Lord full-time than I did during four years of college. There’s no substitute for that kind of education.

I was also contemplating what a privilege it was to be called as a full-time servant of the Lord, Jesus Christ. And to wear His name on a little black name tag every day that proclaimed to the world that I was His representative. A lot of people think of serving a mission as a responsibility or something to do to please others. But I see it as a privilege that only a select few, worthy people get to do. It truly is a blessed privilege. And I am so thankful that I was worthy to be called on, and serve, a mission.

The prophet at the time, Ezra Taft Benson, signed my mission call. Which is the same thing as if the Lord himself had signed it.  

Doctrine and Covenants 1:38 What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my ^aword shall not pass away, but shall all be ^bfulfilled, whether by mine own ^cvoice or by the ^dvoice of my ^eservants, it is the ^fsame.

 To think that the Lord himself called me to represent Him, is very humbling. But if you think about it, all of us as members of His church are called to represent Him when we are baptized and each week when we partake of the sacrament.

These are a few of my thoughts on this day as I reflect on my full-time mission. Any of you who are contemplating serving a full-time mission, do everything you can to be worthy to do so. It truly is a privilege that not many people have the opportunity to fulfill. As with all blessings from the Lord, we always get more out of it than we put into it.

Mosiah 2: 24 And secondly, he doth ^arequire that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately ^bbless you; and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever and ever; therefore, of what have ye to boast?

That’s my two cents.

Earth Life Is a Nanosecond

I was reading the current issue of the Ensign the other day and came across this article entitled, “Living for the Eternities” written by Elder Keith K. Hilbig who was serving as a member of the seventy at the time. Part of that article stuck with me and I mentioned it to Mom. I couldn’t remember where I read it because I read several different church related things that day. But I decided to go find it again and put it on my blog.

Here’s the first part of the article:

 “How different and difficult is the world …today when compared to the …world of two or three generations ago. Many challenges today did not even exist, or were much less intense, than when I was in college.

But you are here now, in this moment. You are pressing forward as your elders are passing into the eternities. You are here at this time not by chance but as part of an eternal plan—designed, agreed upon, and implemented before the earth was ever created.

How fortunate you are to be aware of the Restoration of the gospel! You know there was a premortal existence in the presence of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. You were schooled and tested. You learned of the laws that would allow you to progress and advance. You followed those laws, and thus you were entitled to come to earth, placing you on a course leading to exaltation, dominion, and godhood.

You understand the purposes of mortality on earth, and you have been taught concerning postmortal opportunities. In short, you have the perspective of the eternities—you can look back, and you can gaze forward.

The majority of your …peers who are not members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the world in general, know little of these realities. They live as if in a box defined by two events: birth and death. They make decisions and engage in behaviors circumscribed by a limited perspective. Essentially they live for the moment—the length of time between their births and their deaths, which is a mere nanosecond in the scheme of eternity. They likely know nothing of their premortal existence and little of eternity.” – Elder Keith K.Hilbig, served as a member of the 70 from 2001 to 2012, from a devotional address given at BYU Idaho March 20, 2007, July 2013 Ensign

The last paragraph is what made me think. I began thinking about some of my relatives and certain people I’ve met who do not have the gospel. I thought about how their lives have no direction or purpose other than to have fun and live for the moment. This scripture came to mind: “2 Nephi 28: 7 Yea, and there shall be many which shall say: ^aEat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die; and it shall be well with us.”

Then I started thinking about how long this time on earth really is, it seems like it’s always related to the blink of an eye compared to eternity. But, if you take Elder Hilbig’s quote about our time on earth being a nanosecond compared to eternity, the blink of an eye comparison is much too long.

Let’s break it down. A nanosecond is 10 ^-9 seconds or 1 billionth of a second (1/1,000,000,000). A human eye blinks at the rate of 300 to 400 ms (a millisecond is 1/1000 of a second). Which means that the human eye can blink about three times per second. So, the blink of an eye is the equivalent of 300,000,000 to 400,000,000 ns (300-400 million nanoseconds). So putting this in perspective, we could live 300 million to 400 million lifetimes in the blink of an eye, if our lifetime between birth and death is only a nanosecond compared to eternity.

Thinking about it this way, it makes all of our choices during mortality even more important considering how short this test of mortality really is. Everything that is not related to following the Commandments and not helping your eternal progression is irrelevant.  Not only that, but doing anything contrary to the will of God is extremely detrimental. Considering how short this test is and how important each decision, thought, and action is in our eternal destiny, we should all be doing everything we can to live the gospel by following the commandments the best we can and helping others to do the same. Perhaps this is why there is such a push for missionary work right now. Time is short, and those of us blessed with the gospel in our lives have a great responsibility to share our blessings, the blessings the gospel brings in our lives, with others not as fortunate.

Doctrine and Covenants 18: 15-16

 15 And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one ^asoul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!

 16 And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the ^akingdom of my Father, how great will be your ^bjoy if you should bring many ^csouls unto me!

 That’s my two cents.

Chicken Pot Pie

Yesterday for FHE we had homemade chicken pot pie that was to die for. I found a recipe from my favorite food network chef, Ina Garten. We made a few minor adjustments to the recipe, and here’s the result:

Chicken Pot Pie

Adapted from a recipe by Ina Garten

 

Ingredients:

• 1 pint canned chicken
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• Salt-and-pepper
• 5 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
• 2 chicken bouillon cubes
• ¾ cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 2 cups yellow onions, chopped (2 onions)
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 2 cups medium-diced carrots, blanched for 2 minutes
• 2 cups diced potatoes, boiled five minutes
• 2 cups frozen peas (10 ounce package)
• 1 cup diced celery

 

For the pastry:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 1/4 pound cold unsalted butter, diced
• 1/2 to 2/3 cup ice water
• 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
• Salt-and-pepper

 

Directions:

Drain canned chicken, reserving broth for sauce. Place chicken in large bowl. Add olive oil and sprinkle with salt and Pepper. Mix together thoroughly. Set aside while preparing vegetables. Add vegetables to chicken mixture.

 

In a small saucepan, heat the chicken stock and dissolve the bouillon cubes in the stock. In a large pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter and sauté the onions over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until translucent. Add the flour and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add the hot chicken stock to the sauce. Simmer over low heat for 1 more minute, stirring, until thick. Add 2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and heavy cream. Add to the chicken, carrots, peas, potatoes and celery. Mix well.

 

For the pastry, mix the flour, salt, and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Add the shortening and butter and mix quickly with your fingers until each piece is coated with flour. Pulse 10 times, or until the fat is the size of peas. With the motor running, add the ice water; process only enough to moisten the dough and have it just come together. Dump the dough out onto a floured board and knead quickly into a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic and allow it to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

 

Pour filling into rectangular casserole dish.  Rollout dough into rectangle to cover casserole dish. Crimp the edges. Brush the dough with egg wash.  Cut slits in top. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for one hour or until the top is golden brown and filling is bubbling hot.

 

*to make two extra large glass casserole dishes, we tripled the recipe for the filling and doubled the recipe for the pastry.

Alternatively you could use puff pastry from the grocery store in lieu of the homemade pastry topping.

Delicious!

Random thoughts on Independence Day

I have several random thoughts to share today. First of all, let’s not forget the obvious – happy birthday America! (And Samson) it is somewhat bittersweet to think about this wonderful nation in which we live. From the beginning declaring our independence as a nation to where we are now as a people becoming more and more dependent upon our nation i.e. government. Somewhat ironic. Anyway, happy Independence Day!

Another thought that has been in the back of my mind is the whole Paula Deen witch hunt. It is totally ridiculous what the liberal, low information, Obama loving, mainstream media is doing to Paula Deen. Now I don’t know Paula personally, nor do I know much about her except that I’ve seen her cooking show several times. But I challenge anybody to find someone who is 60+ years old and especially those who grew up in the South who has not uttered “the n word”. Times change. What is acceptable to society changes. Often times for the worse. But how can you condemn someone for something they said many years ago which, if the truth be known, was totally acceptable to society at the time. And even if it was something more recent or something meant derogatorily. Don’t we all make mistakes? Don’t we all say things we wish we hadn’t? Things we wish we could take back? I just think the media is going way overboard with this whole thing. It’s like they are on a witch hunt.

I read an article in the Salt Lake Tribune about a brawl in an LDS chapel in Weber County Utah. It’s been a few days but if I remember correctly there was a missionary farewell and baby blessing going on at the same time. Therefore the chapel was very crowded. One group related to the baby blessing was saving seats. Not members of the Ward. A Ward member came in and sat in the supposedly saved seats. An ensuing brawl broke out and law enforcement was called. I believe there were some arrests.

Anyway, I found this interesting because I think it is something we can all relate to even though it is outrageous behavior especially in a church. But, haven’t we all been inside church buildings where people save seats? And don’t we all get somewhat irked by that behavior? Or is it just me? Doesn’t it seem like no matter what Ward you are in, there are certain pews that are off-limits because they are a certain family’s pew? It’s like an unwritten law or something.

I’m the type of person who would deliberately sit in a pew that was “someone else’s” even though it was empty and unoccupied. Just to ruffle a few feathers and teach people a lesson that it really is not their bench. But that’s just me. Of course I would never come to fisticuffs over it. But I can totally see how it could happen.

People are creatures of habit. But is it really that bad to have to sit in a slightly different place? I don’t mind if people get there early to get their bench. But saving seats when there are people who need them (seating is limited) and the people who you are saving them for are not there, and may never come-- is just plain wrong.

Obviously you think people would try to be on their best behavior at church. Interestingly enough, they aren’t. I guess this is why we have to have locks on the cupboard doors in church buildings and even lockers at the temple.

These are a few of my thoughts today.

That’s my two cents.

The Lamanites Shall Blossom As the Rose

I heard an interesting tidbit on the news last night. As of yesterday, there are more Latinos in California than Caucasians or any other race. I know when I lived in Downey, California that I was most certainly a minority. And that was over 10 years ago.

The news report said that California’s the second state to reach that status. New Mexico being the first several years ago. And Texas will be next. Within the next decade they said.

When I heard this report on the news I immediately thought of the prophecy in the Scriptures.

Doctrine and Covenants 49:24 “But before the great day of the Lord shall come, ^aJacob shall flourish in the wilderness, and the Lamanites shall ^bblossom as the rose.”

It’s obvious that this prophecy is being fulfilled. My interpretation of that Scripture is that the Lamanites (Latinos) will Blossom in righteousness. Or in other words, will accept the Gospel. Now with the great increase in missionaries, this will happen at an accelerated rate.

Anyway, these were the thoughts that went through my head after I heard the news report yesterday.

That’s my two cents.

Interesting article -- The Source of Our Moral Decay

Okay I’m still sick but I read this article the same day that I read the other article I posted a couple days ago. Interestingly the day after I read the article I read about the Texas state legislator who pulled the filibuster in favor of abortion. The article I read in the Deseret news mentioned that this particular Texas state legislator was a single teenage mom who turned her life around and went to Harvard. Or something like that. Anyway, putting two and two together it makes me wonder how her child feels about her filibuster. Apparently if she had the chance she would have murdered her child before it was born. At least that’s what I get out of her filibuster. So I decided to post this article that I read at American thinker about the source of moral decay. It is written by the same author as my last post from American thinker. He has interesting ideas. Although I don’t agree with everything he says, most of it is true. If nothing else, it will make you start to think. Here is the article:

May 8, 2013

The Source of Our Moral Decay?

By Paul Shlichta

Like many senior citizens, I have been bewildered by the rapid degeneration of our American society. A half-century ago, we were a decent people and a benevolent force in global affairs. Even then, we had to contend with drugs, violence, pornography, and the materialism engendered by prosperity, but we somehow managed to keep these malignancies at sub-critical levels.
But by 1990, even though the threat of Communism seemed to be fading away, we had become aware that something was seriously wrong. Consider Michelle's famous "Pollyanna" monolog in TV's "Knots Landing":

People SHOULD be nice. Nice should be the norm. I hate it that I can't trust anyone! I hate it that I can't put my daughter on the front lawn by herself! I hate it that I have to lock my car, and that I have to worry about an alarm system in my house, and I can't send cash in the mail! That's not the way it's supposed to be...

This resonated in the minds of many as a belated tocsin that our American society had begun to decay.

Since then, things have worsened at an ever-increasing pace. Drug traffic has become so prevalent and profitable that drug cartels virtually rule sections of  a neighboring country and have established a vast fungus-like infrastructure within our own. The institution of marriage has degenerated to the point where homosexuality, promiscuity, and date rape are "the new normal," half of all marriages end in divorce, and over 40 percent of our babies (the ones that escape abortion) are born to unwed mothers. Lying and cheating have become so commonplace that a substantial fraction of all resumes contain false entries and students routinely cheat on tests and buy term papers on the Internet.

I have no tangible proof, but I have come to believe that the primary source of our decay is the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973. I contend that abortion is slowly killing us.

Abortion may be the moral equivalent of AIDS. Our bodies, though under constant attack from bacteria, viruses, and cancers, can normally keep most or all of these invaders at bay.  The primary symptoms of the HIV virus, such as a week or two of fever or soreness, are so mild that they often go unnoticed. But AIDS eventually destroys the immune system, thereby allowing the already-present invaders and a host of new ones to ravage the body unchecked. Ultimately, the AIDS victim dies from one or more infections that otherwise would have been trivial.

In the same way, the death of some 50 million  babies -- or rather, the hypocrisy and moral evasion required to allow those deaths -- has hardened the collective American conscience to the point where it can easily tolerate other moral degeneracies and ignore their obvious destructive effects on our society.

As might be expected, this moral AIDS has had a particularly virulent effect on the practitioners of abortion. The horrors described during the trial of Kermit Gosnell -- the beheadings and snippings of spines to kill babies that survived abortions -- sound like things done in concentration camps. The attempts of the media to ignore or downplay these deeds are reminiscent of the Nazi efforts to hide their "Endlösung". Even more horrible is the contention that Gosnell's clinic is merely the most recent of many such cases.

This is not the first time that we have suffered from such an infection. Starting in the mid-seventeenth century, the institution of slavery had a similar poisonous influence. For two centuries, the American public managed to ignore or rationalize this monstrosity until they were ultimately forced to pay the price of 620,000 deaths in a horrible war [3].

Ancient examples of the effects of child-sacrifice -- which is essentially what abortion is -- are not encouraging. Carthage was one of the most progressive and technologically advanced civilizations in the pre-Christian world. It was in many ways preferable to its rival, Rome, except for its quaint custom of having parents throw their babies into the fire as a way of begging favors from their gods. Scholars disagree as to how prevalent this "peculiar institution" was in Carthaginian society, but it was certainly a major reason (or excuse) that Rome cited for obliterating its rival.

If I am right, then our battles against violence, drugs, sexual deconstruction, and other forms of moral degeneraton are merely symptomatic treatments. Until we end the horror of abortion, we will continue to decay -- or perhaps it is already too late.

If once a man indulges himself in murder, very soon he comes to think little of robbing; and from robbing he comes next to drinking and Sabbath-breaking, and from that to incivility and procrastination. Once begun upon this downward path, you never know where you are to stop. Many a man has dated his ruin from some murder or other that perhaps he thought little of at the time.                      
- Thomas de Quincey, in "Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts" 

---

  As has been discussed elsewhere, the Roe v. Wade decision was essentially the work of one man, Justice William O. Douglas
  The AIDS acronym could be reinterpreted as "Abortion Is Destroying our Society".
  Contrary to the proclamations of many preachers, I don't believe that God ever actually punishes. It is rather that He has instituted moral laws, more subtle, but as inexorable as the laws of physics, that cause evil actions to automatically entail equivalent retributive consequences.
 

Page Printed from: http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/../2013/05/the_source_of_our_moral_decay.html at June 28, 2013 - 01:06:40 PM CDT

Supreme Court overturns DOMA

I still have pneumonia so I’m feeling quite ill but I wanted to post the church’s response to the Supreme Court overturning Defense of marriage act a.k.a.DOMA today. I also read an article yesterday that I almost posted but didn’t which goes along the same line. I thought it was well-written and brings out a  few important points. so here is the church’s statement followed by the article from American thinker. Enjoy. "By ruling that supporters of Proposition 8 lacked standing to bring this case to court, the Supreme Court has highlighted troubling questions about how our democratic and judicial system operates," LDS Church spokesman Michael Otterson said. "Many Californians will wonder if there is something fundamentally wrong when their government will not defend or protect a popular vote that reflects the views of a majority of their citizens. "In addition, the effect of the ruling is to raise further complex jurisdictional issues that will need to be resolved. "Regardless of the court decision, the Church remains irrevocably committed to strengthening traditional marriage between a man and a woman, which for thousands of years has proven to be the best environment for nurturing children. Notably, the court decision does not change the definition of marriage in nearly three fourths of the states."

June 25, 2013

What's wrong with Same-Sex Marriage?

By Paul Shlichta

This year, June's wedding bells had a discordant tone, as they ushered in a raft of same-sex marriages. I hereby invoke a panel of experts -- Fr. Thomas Vandenberg, G. K. Chesterton, and Kurt Vonnegut -- to explain why such marriages are a dangerous debasement of the concept of marriage.
Fr. Vandenberg's new book, Rediscovering a Pearl of Great Price , is an inspired exposition of the full meaning of Christian marriage, It should be required reading for couples planning to marry, although some of the passages may come as a surprise:

The greatest gift a husband can give his children is to love their mother, and the greatest gift a mother can give her children is to love their father. That is what will keep the proper balance in the family and make their home environment secure. That is what will free the children from their primary fear, which is to be abandoned by one of their parents. Why do they fear that? Because that is what has happened to so many of their friends at school.

Marriage is supposed to have the ambitious goal of providing children with a nurturing and reassuring base from which to learn to face the world. Therefore, parents must not only be good persons, not only a man and a woman (so as to provide the dual role models psychologists say they need), but also so unshakably devoted to each other that their mutual love can withstand all the temptations and shocks that life will hurl at them, as well as the abrasion of living with each other.

To this end, sexual passion and the bewildering differences between the sexes jointly play a vital role. As Chesterton put it:

The differences between a man and a woman are at the best so obstinate and exasperating that they practically cannot be got over unless there is an atmosphere of exaggerated tenderness and mutual interest.  To put the matter in one metaphor, the sexes are two stubborn pieces of iron; if they are to be welded together, it must be while they are red-hot... 

Therefore, as Fr. Vandenberg goes on to emphasize, sexual intercourse is not merely a permitted "perk" or a reluctantly tolerated means of procreation but rather a vital and holy part of marriage -- a divinely sanctioned means of demonstrating and intensifying conjugal love to make it withstand the rigors attendant upon raising children.*

Fortunately, as with all animals, men and women have the proper equipment for such activities. The corresponding parts of the male and female body interact quite neatly for both mutual pleasure and procreation.

Not so for homosexual men and women. Whether or not there is anything wrong with their desires, they simply don't have the proper apparatus to fulfill them. They must resort to clumsy makeshifts, like cargo cult devotees trying to make airplanes out of straw. Alternatively, they submit to grotesque operations, trying to alter their bodies to suit their desires. The artificiality of these attempts to mimic normal sexuality will inevitably distort the emotions that arise from them and will tend to adversely affect any children living with them.

Homosexuals who engage in such desperate expedients shouldn't be condemned for wanting to do so. As the psychoanalyst in Kurt Vonnegut's God Bless You Mr. Rosewater  explained:

Let's assume that a healthy young man is supposed to be sexually aroused by an attractive woman not his mother or sister. if he's aroused by other things, another man, say, or an umbrella, or the ostrich boa of the Empress Josephine or a sheep or a corpse or his mother or a stolen garter belt, he is what we call a pervert. Let us hasten on to the admission that every case of perversion is essentially a case of crossed wires...

In fact, there is neurological evidence that at least some homosexuals are wired differently and cannot help their proclivities. Others contend that homosexuality may be one of the aftereffects of sexual abuse during childhood. In recognition of such factors, the Catechism of the Catholic Church proposes the apparent paradox of condemning homosexual acts while urging that people afflicted with homosexuality be treated with sympathy.

But we cannot debase the whole concept of sex and marriage merely to oblige them. The objective of what a gay activist has called the ""war we've already won" is to reduce marriage to a lowest-common-denominator status that will inevitably include polygamy, which is already being touted on ABC-TV as  "normal" and being campaigned for in Canada. That's too high a price to pay for making homosexuals feel better about themselves.

As Fr. Vandenberg points out in his appendix on same-sex marriage:

Society, for centuries, has had a stake in marriage....It set certain standards for marriage because it needed marriage to be strong for the well-being of the community; it wanted to help strengthen and support it in order to foster good social order, especially around the generation of new life and the raising of children so they would grow up to be responsible members of that community...This extended relationship of the couple to the larger community is evidenced by the civil requirements for a valid marriage...An obvious example would be laws forbidding marriage between couples who were first cousins.

Unfortunately, the institution of marriage is currently being attacked by several forces that, deliberately or inadvertently, are destroying it and thereby undermining our society:  

• The current fad of cohabitation. Single mothers usually do not assume this role voluntarily but are forced to do so by the perfidy and selfishness of men who desert them when they become pregnant. In consequence, the children suffer from the absence of a father and seek a male role model and mentor, often by joining gangs.
• Ultrafeminists, who regard men as "the enemy". They encourage the idea that men are unnecessary for raising children and regard lesbian couples as the new "normal". To this end, they cite psychological studies that fall apart when examined.
• Our protosocialist state, which seeks to diminish the concept of family in order to make the state the primary "parent". This may be one reason why liberals are so enthusiastic about same-sex marriage -- because it weakens the status and importance of families.

But whatever the causes, the debasement of the concepts of marriage and family will destroy us. Lycurgus achieved it in ancient Sparta and produced a nation of racist brutes. The USSR tried it, with partial success, in the last century and begat a dysfunctional society that is now painfully groping its way back to normality. These are hardly encouraging precedents. The legalization of same-sex marriage is a decisive step down that slippery slope.

Page Printed from: http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/../2013/06/whats_wrong_with_same-sex_marriage.html at June 26, 2013 - 12:20:31 PM CDT