America and God

‎"Men may fail in this country, earthquakes may come, seas may heave beyond their bounds, there may be great drought, disaster, and hardship, but this nation, founded on principles laid down by men whom God raised up, will never fail.
This is the cradle of humanity, where life on this earth began in the Garden of Eden. This is the place of the new Jerusalem. This is the place that the Lord said is favored above all other nations in all the world. This is the place where the Savior will come to His temple. This is the favored land in all the world. Yes, I repeat, men may fail, but this nation won't fail. I have faith in America; you and I must have faith in America, if we understand the teachings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are living in a day when we must pay heed to these challenges.
I plead with you NOT to preach pessimism. Preach that this is the greatest country in all the world. This is the favored land. This is the land of our forefathers. It is the nation that will stand despite whatever trials or crises it may yet have to pass through."-Harold B. Lee

Raising a daughter

I'm not doing well on the whole blog thing lately.. Just no time. I want to do better.. but I can't help but share this talk that I came across SOOOOOO GOOOOOD!!

How can a father raise a happy, well-adjusted daughter in today’s increasingly toxic world? 

No words describe the sacred occasion when a new father holds a baby daughter in his arms for the first time. This year three of our sons have become new fathers of baby girls. As I watched our rugged, strong, rugby-playing son, Jon, hold his first baby daughter in his arms, he looked at her with a reverent tenderness, and then he looked at me with an expression that seemed to say, “How do I raise a girl?”

This morning I would like to speak to our sons and to all fathers. How can a father raise a happy, well-adjusted daughter in today’s increasingly toxic world? The answer has been taught by the Lord’s prophets. It is a simple answer, and it is true—“The most important thing a father can do for his [daughter] is to love [her] mother.”¹ By the way you love her mother, you will teach your daughter about tenderness, loyalty, respect, compassion, and devotion. She will learn from your example what to expect from young men and what qualities to seek in a future spouse. You can show your daughter by the way you love and honor your wife that she should never settle for less. Your example will teach your daughter to value womanhood. You are showing her that she is a daughter of our Heavenly Father, who loves her.

Love her mother so much that your marriage is celestial. A temple marriage for time and all eternity is worthy of your greatest efforts and highest priority. It was only after Nephi had completed the temple in the wilderness that he stated, “And … we lived after the manner of happiness.”² The “manner of happiness” is found in the temple. It is covenant keeping. Don’t let any influence come into your life or your home that would cause you to compromise your covenants or your commitment to your wife and family.

In Young Women we are helping your daughter understand her identity as a daughter of God and the importance of remaining virtuous and worthy to receive the blessings of the temple and of a temple marriage. We are teaching your daughter the importance of making and keeping sacred covenants. We are teaching her to commit now to live so that she can always be worthy to enter the temple and not to allow anything to delay, distract, or disqualify her from that goal. Your example, as her father, speaks louder than our important words. Young women worry about their fathers. Many express that their greatest desire is to be united eternally as a family. They want you to be there when they go to the temple or get married in the temple. Stay close to your daughter and help her prepare and remain worthy for the temple. When she turns 12, take her with you to the temple often to perform baptisms for your ancestors and others. She will cherish these memories forever.

Today’s popular culture tries to erode and demean your eternal role as a patriarch and father and minimize your most important responsibilities. These have been given to you “by divine design,” and as fathers you “are to preside over [your] families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for [your] families.”³

Fathers, you are the guardians of your homes, your wives, and your children. Today “it is not an easy thing to protect one’s family against intrusions of evil into [their] minds and spirits. … These influences can and do flow freely into the home. Satan [is very clever]. He need not break down the door.”⁴

You must be the guardians of virtue. “A priesthood holder is virtuous.Virtuous behavior implies that [you have] pure thoughts and clean actions. … Virtue is … an attribute of godliness.” It “is akin to holiness.”⁵The Young Women values are Christlike attributes which include the value of virtue. We now call upon you to join with us in leading the world in a return to virtue. In order to do so, you “must practise virtue and holiness”⁶ by eliminating from your life anything that is evil and inconsistent with one who holds the holy priesthood of God. “Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and … the Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion.”⁷ So be cautious about what you view in entertainment media or print. Your personal virtue will model for your daughters, and also your sons, what true strength and moral courage are. By being a guardian of virtue in your own life, in your home, and in the lives of your children, you are showing your wife and daughters what true love really is. Your personal purity will give you power.

You are your daughter’s guardian in more than the legal sense. Be present in your daughter’s life. Let her know your standards, your expectations, your hopes and dreams for her success and happiness. Interview her, get to know her friends and, when the time comes, her boyfriends. Help her understand the importance of education. Help her understand that the principle of modesty is a protection. Help her choose music and media that invite the Spirit and are consistent with her divine identity. Be an active part of her life. And if in her teenage years she should not come home from a date on time, go get her. She will resist and tell you that you have ruined her social life, but she will inwardly know that you love her and that you care enough to be her guardian.

You are not ordinary men. Because of your valiance in the premortal realms, you qualified to be leaders and to possess priesthood power. There you exhibited “exceeding faith and good works,” and you are here now to do the same.⁸ Your priesthood sets you apart.

Within a few weeks our three sons will have given their baby daughters a name and a blessing. I hope this will be the first of many priesthood blessings they receive from their fathers, because in the world in which they will grow up, they will need those blessings. Your daughter will cherish the priesthood and determine in her heart that this is what she wants in her future home and family. Always remember “that the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven” and can “be controlled … only upon the principles of righteousness.”⁹

Fathers, you are your daughter’s hero. My father was my hero. I used to wait on the steps of our home for him to arrive each night. He would pick me up and twirl me around and let me put my feet on top of his big shoes, and then he would dance me into the house. I loved the challenge of trying to follow his every footstep. I still do.

Did you know that your testimony has a powerful influence on your daughters? I knew my father had a testimony. I knew he loved the Lord. And because my father loved the Lord, I did too. I knew he cared about the widows because he took his vacation to paint the home of the widow who lived next door. I thought that was the greatest vacation our family ever had because he taught me how to paint! You will bless the life of your daughter for years to come if you will look for ways to spend time with her and to share your testimony with her.

In the Book of Mormon, Abish was converted by her father’s sharing with her his remarkable vision. For many years thereafter, she kept her testimony in her heart and lived righteously in a very wicked society. Then the time came when she could no longer be still, and she ran from house to house to share her testimony and the miracles she had witnessed in the king’s court. The power of Abish’s conversion and testimony was instrumental in changing an entire society. The people who heard her testify became a people who “were converted unto the Lord, [and] never did fall away,” and their sons became the stripling warriors!¹⁰

As the hymn says, “Rise up, O men of God!”¹¹ This is a call to you, the men who bear the holy priesthood of God. May it be said of you as was said of Captain Moroni:

“[He] was a strong and a mighty man; … a man of a perfect understanding; … a man who was firm in the faith of Christ. …

“… If all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; … the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men.”¹²

Brethren, fathers, young men, “Be loyal to the royal within you.”¹³

So how do you raise a girl? Love her mother. Lead your family to the temple, be guardians of virtue, and magnify your priesthood. Fathers, you have been entrusted with our Heavenly Father’s royal daughters. They are virtuous and elect. It is my prayer that you will watch over them, strengthen them, model virtuous behavior, and teach them to follow in the Savior’s every footstep—for He lives! In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

questions..

 I don't watch Glen Beck on TV.  I use to always listen to him on talk radio. I don't really anymore but I ran past this an I thought it was pretty good, and it made me laugh... Enjoy..


                                  http://youtu.be/6GccM_eUlMI

Vacation..

So we had one more trip down south.. Planned on Powell but ended out in St. George again.. Lots of fun and not nearly the work! Highlight of the trip
1) Adrian fell in love with our waitress. He told her she was beautiful and then after watching her for a while whispered, " I want to hold her..."
2) TUACAHN!!
3) Snow Canyon
4) Golfing
4)Swimming
5) relaxation..

The boys went on an Elk hunt. Chad, Jordan, Hudson and Jake packed up the trailer and down south with some friends to try and cure some buck fever... Jordan had a spike only tag and this is what he got

apparently it was exhausting...

JAKE AND JORD

    A few weeks ago, was Jake and Jordan's 23rd birthday.. We went out to dinner at the Czech restaurant that Jake has been begging to do for a year now.. It's not my favorite but he was so happy... Jordan says he would like to go out this week to the Seattle restaurant for his birthday haah

 

 a few days later, they went to Florida (Key West) to visit a "friend" of Jacob's. They had a blast!!!!  Here are just a few photos..

a few days later, they went to Florida (Key West) to visit a "friend" of Jacob's. They had a blast!!!!  Here a just a few photo..

This is a picture of my dad and his family when he was a little boy..(Far left front row) I've never  seen this before or anything like it.  His little brother in the front middle died of pneumonia shortly after this photo was taken(or painted?). and his father died long before I was born so I never got to meet them. I was so excited to see this and how much my dad resembles my littlest Stockton who is around the same age. My dad is now 91 years old!!

 

 

I Loved seeing this wall at my uncle Stan’s house of the family trees last weekend. I’ve been thinking so much lately about my ancestors and all that they have gone through. And especially with the month of July, those that came across the planes and went through so much persecution in the early days of the Church. I often wonder what I would’ve done if I had been alive then.. I'm just so thankful for all of them.I definitely want to take a drive up to this is the place and/or the lion house and do a tour. It's been so long and because of things our family has gone through the last few years from missions to becoming grandparents to everyday raising of children and seeing how the choices we make today will sooo impact generations to come...

Such a strange feeling when I saw this photo of my Grandma. I don’t remember when the last time I saw a picture of her and she’s been gone about 20 years.

My great grandparents and great great grandparents on on my dads, moms side..

My great grandparents and great great grandparents on my dads, dads side

ADVENTURE

After a pretty stressful week, Marne and I headed to Logan in the new "MINI WINI".  

Stetson spent the week up at AFY, (Activities for Youth) on the campus up there and needed a ride home. And since Nicole, Rylar and Uncle Stan are up there, as well as the Logan Temple, we decided to head up on a little adventure. 

 I was real proud of myself for driving the RV. Even if it is a mini. It was fun to see everyone up there but sad to see that Stan had fallen that afternoon and knocked out both of his front teeth!! poor guy, I do not want to get old! He seems to be going down hill. :-(

Anyway one more temple off to check off the list. It was a great session!!! I didn't even fall asleep!! Yeah me!! Seriously, Got more out of it than I think I ever have and I am so thankful!!