“Those sure are big sunflowers,” I said to my Bishop’s councilor as he irrigated his garden. I saw him working in his back yard one day on my way home from elementary school. I thought the Provo street ditches were just for kid’s summer water fights, and had never before seen a garden watered in this way. “When they are ready, you can have one and you can eat the seeds and plant some in your own garden…
Having “enough and to spare” is the economic definition of prosperity. This concept doesn’t simply mean we have change left in our pockets after we bought all we want. It includes the foresight to recognize and be prepared for future needs for self and others. When you purchase items for immediate use, get one or two more for inventory against future needs. You are saving yourself another trip to the store, if nothing else. But, it’s a good…
“My baby has been running at both ends for more than a week,” my Home Teaching young mother said when she brought her daughter to my home for a blessing before going to a doctor’s appointment. “Did you know that chamomile and catnip teas can cure colic,” I asked? “Where were you when my first three kids almost died of colic,” she charged? As the baby nursed on the warm brew the blessing was given –…
In 2Ne 2:14 “. . .God . . . created . . . things to act and things to be acted upon.” In verse 26, Lehi concludes that “we . . . become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for (ourselves) and not be acted upon.” The entire chapter tells us so much about the blessings of the Savior’s atonement. Plain and precious is every gospel principle, and each teaches us how to be more godlike,…
As technology distances us from the past, we not only become more dependant upon computer- controlled logistics, but we become more removed from self sufficient know-how of our pioneer heritage. In the winter of 1847, everything was in short supply after the pioneers first arrived in the Salt Lake Valley. Imagine having to forage for all your needs. Remember, vegetables do not come from a store, nor does milk come from a truck. Cotton does not grow in…
Rush hour — that’s an oxymoron. At 4:09 PM EST on August 14, 2003, the blackout hit the northeast. Most people walked home. Some slept in the street using the blankets and pillows their hotels gave them. Most fasted when street venders quickly sold out. Most everybody just got along — but, for how long? WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN THE LIGHT SWITCH FAILS? Consider the following: ENJOY – have a barbecue and invite a widow or…
FOD is not something to worry about – unless you are in aviation. Then, it can be everything. Anything out of place is FOD: anything that can produce (F)oreign (O)bject (D)amage to an aircraft. A paper clip or a pebble on the runway, a hat, a tool, a bird — anything that can go through an engine except fuel and air is FOD. You will never see a cluttered airport. Aviation has to be a tidy industry. People’s…
“It came on between Wells and Wendover,” explained my mother, to my irate father. “It was only one little red light. The smoke didn’t start ‘til later.” I learned an early lesson when dad replaced the engine in our ’52 Buick. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” That lesson was magnified during a military aviation career. To expect the unexpected is the beginning of safety awareness. To feel safe comes from broadening our…
The sports world is always reaching for new highs in pain. “No pain, no gain,” we are told. A popular athletic shoe ad says “sometimes you just have to break the rules.” Some sports today push limits so far as to be near death experiences. The pain is so great, if you aren’t dead, you will wish you were. Pain is a great teacher because it leaves no doubt as to when we have surpassed limits or broken…
A young couple, just getting started, determined to sacrifice and spend some of their meager finances on a food supply. They picked a cool closet in their small apartment and determined two things: 1. they would not food shop unless they could purchase a case of something they normally consumed. 2. they would never buy anything unless it was on sale. The local newspaper specials became an important part of their casual reading. What started with generic canned…