FYI:  My latest talk on "The Fall" is at the bottom of the pictures.  It includes my experience with "Brownie," the rabbit we caught in the orchard.  Enjoy it or skip it, but it's there if you're interested.

We are in Post Falls with our new little granddaughter, Maren, and her family.  We've been having a great time.  Nancy left last Monday and flew to Spokane.  Allison and I drove up on Wednesday.  The roads were dry the whole way and it was a fun drive with good company. 

 We brought the bunk bed that Jill and Lee gave Logan and Rachel.  It is the bed that was in Conrad's room.  It looks great in Evelyn's room.  So far only one accident worth mentioning.  Jack found out that falling off the top is faster than climbing down the ladder.  Ouch!!  He's okay.

 Happy 4th birthday!  We love the birthday hair!!

 Logan is a master chef.  We've eaten very well since we've been here.

 This was Griff, Ash, and Zoey Skyping us.  Everybody got a chance to hold Maren.

 Hood time!  We're going on a walk. 

 Grandma is in her glory.  Three grandkids and a computer!

 Allison is the great entertainer.  This game went on for a long time.

 Good morning. 

 Addy's turn to hold Maren.  She's got Addytude.

 More Skyping.  Technology can bring families together.

 Evelyn loves her bed!  Jack tried this on the bottom bunk and came out crying after bumping his head.

 Jack's turn to hold Maren.  He loves her and is very soft with her.

 Evelyn's turn to hold Maren. 

 Logan's breakfast masterpiece.

 Rachel and Maren . . . Maren is under the tent.

The contraption Logan made to help with the "cover up" challenge.

 Logan's fruit plate masterpiece.

 Grandpa in the window.  It snowed a little.

Two sleeping beautys.  Allison and Maren have bonded.

Get the parents away . . . we can do it all by ourselves.

Jackson, Evelyn, Maren, and Adalie

Here's my talk.  It's kind of rough, but you'll get the idea.

When I was young, I lived in San Jose California.  Today it’s huge, but at the time it was a small farming community about the size of Rexburg.  There were cherry, prune, and apricot orchards everywhere.  Interspersed between the orchards were housing developments.  My siblings, friends, and I spent much of our growing up years playing in the orchards.  BB guns, mini bikes, climbing trees, and making forts were the fair of the day.

The watering practice of the farmers was to build motes around the trees and then flood the orchards.  We would travel the maze of piled up dirt mounds and try not to get wet or muddy.  Every day was a great adventure. 

On one of these adventures I noticed a baby rabbit stranded next to a tree surrounded by water.  I jumped over the water and out to the tree where I was able to snatch the little rabbit.  It was wet and cold. 

I took it home, and with my mom’s help we dried it with a towel and warmed it in the oven.  The little rabbit regained its energy and enthusiasm for life.  We prepared a little box for it to live in and for the next couple of days let it live in the house with us.  I became very attached to our new pet.  We named him “Brownie”.

A couple of days later, after it looked like he had recovered and was ready to live outside again, we put him in our pigeon cage in the back yard.  It got cold, and in the morning, Brownie was dead. 

I didn’t understand.  Why did things we love have to die?  This was my first experience coming to grips with the reality that death was part of life.

Later, I experienced the death of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends.  And it became more clear that death was a part of life.  But, I still wondered why?

In Hymn 173:  While of These Emblems We Partake, John Nicholson penned these words in the third verse. 

The law was broken; Jesus died

That justice might be satisfied,

That man might not remain a slave

Of death, of hell, or of the grave,

Jesus came to satisfy the demands of justice because the law had been broken.  But, what law?  What broken law made it possible and necessary for the savior to come to the earth to satisfy the demands of justice?  And who broke that law?

Adam and Eve were brilliant.  They were fabulous.  They were courageous.  They understood the plan of happiness.  Adam took part in the creation of the earth.  Then He and Eve were taught and ministered to by our Heavenly Father in the Garden of Eden.  They loved Him, and even if they couldn’t remember us because of the veil, they loved us.  And we knew and loved them. 

You know the story.

After a period of time in the Garden of Eden they came to realize that in their state of innocence there was no possibility for them, or us, to progress.  So, as we watched with interest and anticipation from heaven, they made a choice to break the law and move on.  They partook of the forbidden fruit.  And we were happy because of their willingness and their courage to move forward.

Satan would like to take credit for Adam and Eve partaking of the fruit of the tree of life, and separating them from God, but the credit should go to Adam and Eve.  They knew what they were doing.  And they made a choice to move on, because it was the right time.

There are some beautiful doctrines taught in chapter two of Second Nephi.  The teacher in me wants to start with a little pre test.  (From The Book of Mormon Made Easier by David J. Ridges, pg 177). 

Here are the rules:  You can either write the answer down, tell the person sitting next to you, or answer it in your head.  Writing it down is the best so I’ll give you a minute to get a pen, pencil, or crayon.  You can make good use of your program by writing on it.

Question 1:  True or False

Because of the Savior’s Atonement, everyone but the very most wicked will get resurrected.

In 2^nd Nephi 9:22 it says:

22.  And he (Jesus Christ) suffereth this that the resurrection might pass upon all men, that all might stand before him at the great and judgment day.       

Answer:  (False).  Everyone will get resurrected.

Question 2:  True or False

In a way, it’s too bad Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit, because our lives would be much easier if they hadn’t.

2^nd Nephi 2:22, 24-25 says:

22.  And now, behold if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden.  And all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end.’

24.  But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things.

25.  Adam fell that men might be; and men are that they might have joy.

Answer:  2 Nephi 2:22, 24-25 (False).  The Fall was good plus essential.

Question 3:  True or False

If Adam and Eve had not transgressed in the Garden of Eden, they and their children would never have become mortal and progressed.

In 2^nd Nephi 2:23 it says:

23.  And they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin.

Answer:  False.  They would not have had children.

Question 4:  True or False

Because of their transgression and the resulting Fall, Adam was cursed by God, but Eve got even a worse cursing.

Genesis 3:14-17 says:

14.  And the Lord god said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of they life;

15.  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise they head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

16.  Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

17.  And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it; cursed is the ground for they sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.

So, the answer is false; neither of them was cursed.  The Fall was a great blessing and it gave Adam and Eve ownership of the consequences, which brought great joy along with hardships which promoted growth (Moses 5:10-11).  Satan was cursed and the ground was cursed for Adam’s sake.  But Adam and Eve were not cursed.

Not only were they not cursed, but they seemed to be pretty happy about the whole thing.

In Moses 5:10, Adam says:

10.  And in that day Adam blessed God and was filled, and began to prophesy concerning all the families  of the earth, saying:  Blessed be the name of God, for because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again in the flesh I shall see God.

Then in verse 11, Eve says:

11.  And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying:  Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed (children), and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient.

Question 5:  True or False

It was a good thing that Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit.

Answer:  2 Nephi 22-25 and Moses 5:10-11 (True)

From the scriptures we’ve already read, the answer is “true”.  It was a good thing that Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit.

Now, let’s go back to the hymns.

In verse six of Hymn 195:  How Great the Wisdom and the Love, Eliza R. Snow was inspired to write the following:

How great, how glorious, how complete,

Redemption’s grand design,

Where justice, love, and mercy meet

In harmony divine!

The grand design spoken of in this hymn was the grand design of our Heavenly Father’s plan of happiness.  He designed it as the hymn suggests, in wisdom and love.

From an eternal perspective, three things haven’t always been a part of life:

Physical Bodies, death, and children.

1.    Physical Bodies haven’t always been a part of life.  In the pre existence we were spirits without bodies.

a.     This might seem weird, but everybody take the hand of the person next to you.  Isn’t that cool that you can feel their body and vice versa.  I love having a body and experiencing the pain and joy it allows me to experience.

2.    Physical Death hasn’t always been a part of life.  In the pre existence we were spirits, and then, even during the creation, all things were created in a “non-mortal” state; including Adam and Eve.  They were not immortal, but they were non-mortal.  They could not die.  Their physical bodies were different than ours.  For one thing, according to the bible dictionary, they had flesh, but they didn’t have blood.  We say we have bodies of flesh and blood. Adam and Eve could not say that.  Although it sounds a little incomplete, they could only say they had bodies of flesh. 

3.    Children haven’t always been a part of life.  In the pre existence, we were, and we still are children of Heavenly Father, but we didn’t have any of our own children.

It’s a great blessing to be a parent, and it’s a great blessing to be a child.  To the youth and children, I encourage you to listen to and learn from your parents.  I also think it’s important for you to understand that we parents learn from you and we grow because of you.  That’s all part of our Heavenly Father’s plan.

Just as bodies, children, and death have not always been a part of life, there are two things that have always been part of life.  They are:  Opposition and agency. 

Lehi tells his son Jacob that we can’t have agency without opposition:

 11 For it must needs be, that there is an ^aopposition in all things. If not so, my first-born in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, . . .

(2^nd Nephi 2:11)

We can’t remember, but the scriptures tell us that we took part in a great conflict in the pre existence.  We fought a war in heaven because we wanted to follow our Heavenly Father’s plan.  We wanted to maintain and use our agency to make choices to gain immortality and eternal life.  This all included bodies, children, and death. 

The creation of Adam and Eve and their fall were part of the process for us to gain bodies, become mortal, and have children when the time was right. 

Another reason we fought this battle in heaven was because we understood that Heavenly Father would send his son Jesus Christ to redeem us from the fall, through the resurrection, and empower us to return to live with him because of the atonement.

We believe that Adam and Eve’s transgression was necessary, but we also believe that we will be blessed or punished for our own choices, good or bad, and not for Adam’s.  (article of faith). 

When Christ came to the earth he suffered, died, and was resurrected.  He saved us from the fall and gave us all the free gift immortality through the resurrection.  Then, through the atonement he provided an opportunity for us to gain eternal life through our choices. 

So, choices matter. They affect us and they affect those around us.  Satan’s choice to rebel against God mattered.  The Savior’s choice to follow God’s plan mattered.  Adam’s choice to partake of the forbidden fruit mattered. 

And now, it’s our chance.  Our daily choices to follow the commandments, to do our best to be, as President Hinckley said, a little kinder, a little more generous, and a little more thoughtful . . .  matter. 

And our choices to receive the principles and ordinances of the gospel such as faith, repentance, baptism, the Holy Ghost, temple ordinances, and enduring to the end all matter.

I’m no longer confused about death like I was when Brownie died.  I’ve come to know that it is part of the grand design in bringing about the purposes of God.

To paraphrase that grand design, let me read Mormon 9:12-13

12.  “Behold, he (God) created Adam, and by Adam came the fall of man, And because of the fall of man came Jesus Christ, even the Father and the Son; and because of Jesus Christ came the redemption of man.

13.  “And because of the redemption of man, which came by Jesus Christ, they are brought back into the presence of the Lord; yea, this is wherein all men are redeemed, because the death of Christ bringeth to pass the resurrection, which bringeth to pass a redemption from an endless sleep, from which sleep all men shall be awakened by the power of God when the trump shall sound; and they shall come forth, both small and great, and all shall stand before the bar, being redeemed and loosed from this eternal band of death, which death is a temporal death.”

I appreciate the opportunity to express my gratitude to Heavenly Father for His Plan of Happiness; to my savior Jesus Christ who satisfied the demands of justice through the work of the atonement; and to Adam and Eve for the courage and wisdom they had to play their part in the plan. 

May we now do our parts in making good choices that matter so we can return to live with our Heavenly Father and, hopefully, gain eternal life is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. 

Amen.

Hurray, hurray, hurray!!  The big event is that Maren McKinley was born yesterday.  We are so excited to have her join our family.  Nancy will leave early tomorrow morning for Post Falls, and Allison and I will follow on Wednesday.  We are very excited.  The basics are that she was 6 pounds 14 ounces, red hair, beautiful, healthy, and happy.  Rachel is also doing well.  For details, go to Logan and Rachel's blog.

 This is Nancy preparing materials for her sub, so she can head off to Post Falls and be a Grandma!!

 More preparation.  She will miss valentine's day with her kindergartners, but she is making them all cards for when she is away.  What a great teacher.

 This is me pretending to help. 

A Note From Nancy

I know Greg already did today's post, but I thought that I'd share a recipe with everyone. Grandma Hill used to make this and so did I, but I'd forgotten all about it until this week. I made it for a Relief Society dinner and it was a huge hit. All the ladies loved it so much and it's so easy that I thought I'd share it. If you like chocolate, you will love this!

Cherry Chocolate Cake

1 package Devil's Food cake mix                                         Frosting:
1 (21 oz) can cherry pie filling                                              1 cup sugar
1 tsp. almond extract                                                             5 tbsp. butter
2 eggs                                                                                   1/3 c. milk
                                                                                             1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Heat the oven to 350. Grease a 9"x13" pan.
Combine the dry cake mix, cherry pie filling, almond extract, and 2 eggs BY HAND; stir until well blended, being careful not to break up the cherries too much. Pour into the prepared pan.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until it tests done. Cool.

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, butter, and mild. Boil, stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the chocolate chips until smooth. Immediately pour over the partially cooled cake.

*You can make this in a bundt pan and it looks pretty with the frosting on top.

Since I'm already on the blog I'll tell a little more about our week. We've been really good about walking this week and it's felt great! We go down to the new track and walk 3 miles really fast and usually get done in about 45 minutes. I know all you runners out there are probably rolling your eyes, but at least we're doing something! Greg is always good about playing racquetball or lifting weights every day, but I rarely get out to exercise so I'm pretty happy about it.

We are loving being empty nesters again. Of course, Courtney comes home almost every day to run on the treadmill, but for the most part we are alone. You couldn't say that our lives are exciting, but it's just so fun to be together that we are very happy. We both leave for work around 7:00 in the morning and get home around 5:00 at night and by then we're ready to be done for the day. We walk, read books, watch movies, cook, and run errands. We are two middle aged people who find great joy in just being together. LIfe is great!

Wow, January 22nd and we finally got some snow.  It wasn't until last night, but we have it. I actually got to push some snow off the driveway this morning.  It was only about a half inch, but it was fun.

 Looking down the hill as I drove to church today.

 The back yard.  I actually raked up apples and leaves yesterday and today we had snow.  It was like having spring and winter all in 24 hours.

On Wednesday of last week, Nancy's school had a fund raiser at the local McDonald's.  She got to go down and work for a half hour or so.  The place was crowded and it was fun to know most everyone there.  I guess this is one of the perks of living in a small town.  It can be good and bad,  but on this night it was very good and lots of fun.

Nancy in her red "Lincoln" shirt.  She also got to wear an official McDonald's apron, but I missed that photo op. 

It's been a good week.  It continues to be unseasonably warm in Rexburg.  It feels almost like spring, but we know it's not.  Until winter hits, we are enjoying every day.

You don't have to read any farther if you don't want to.  The following is a talk I prepared about the Book of Mormon and my own personal journey with it.  In it, I refer to our graduation roadtrip to the Sawtooth mountains of Idaho, and to an experience I had in Merced when we lived there . . . which included Haley and Colby shooting the neighbors window with a BB gun.  All is well that ends well . . . right? 

Here's my talk,

My topic is the Book of Mormon.  I want to talk about two things today.  First, reading the Book of Mormon as families to help unify the home.  Second, renewing our personal testimony of the Book of Mormon every day. 

President Andersen has challenged all of us to read or reread the Book of Mormon this year, and use it to teach in our homes.

I’m happy to report that many in our community are doing a great job of teaching the Book of Mormon in their homes.  Nancy, my wife, is a kindergarten teacher.  The other day she held up a penny and asked the kindergarteners if they knew whose picture was on the penny.  The first answer was “Moroni”.  The second answer was “President Monson”.  To me, this is evidence that they are being taught the gospel in their homes . . . and that they need to learn more about Abraham Lincoln. 

Go back with me 100 years to April 15, 1912.

As you know, this is the day the Titanic Sank resulting in the deaths of 1,517 people. (RMS Titanic – Wikipedia)

Try to imagine the chaos on the Titanic when it was sinking.  People were probably running everywhere looking for family members and loved ones.  It was noisy and unorganized as people were, or were not able to get to the lifeboats.  It was probably really scary.  Some, I’m sure, gave up all hope.  But in the midst of the trouble, as you know, there was a spot of relative peace, comfort, and hope.  A string quartet played among other things, the hymn “Nearer My God to Thee.”  I’ve always liked this hymn and the idea of getting closer to God.

 In D&C 88:63 the Savior says “Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” 

So, my question is how do we draw near to our Heavenly Father and Jesus? 

In a meeting with the Twelve Apostles, the Prophet Joseph Smith said that “. . . a man would get nearer to God by abiding by (the) precepts (in the Book of Mormon), than by any other book.”  So, one way to grow closer to God and Jesus Christ is by reading the Book of Mormon and practicing the precepts found in it.  (History of the Church, a4:461; see introduction to the BofM)

On average, Christ is mentioned every 1.7 versus in the Book of Mormon (Book of Mormon Study Guide). 

The introduction to the book says “The Book of Mormon is a volume of holy scripture comparable to the Bible . . .  and contains, as does the Bible, the fullness of the everlasting gospel.” 

As we learn of Christ and the everlasting gospel, we will grow closer to our Heavenly Father.  If we do this as a family, family unity will increase, and Parents, children, and siblings will see more of the divine in each other.

President Marion G. Romney said “I feel certain that if, in our homes, parents will read from the Book of Mormon prayerfully and regularly, both by themselves and with their children, the spirit of that great book will come to permeate our homes and all who dwell therein.  The spirit of reverence will increase; mutual respect and consideration for each other will grow.  The spirit of contention will depart.  Parents will counsel their children in greater love and wisdom.  Children will be more responsive and submissive to the counsel of their parents . . . ”  (April 1980 Conference or May Ensign 1980, 67)

Every individual, and every family is different, so how to best read and study the Book of Mormon together will also be different.  It is something that should be talked about and decided upon as a family.

Our own family is spread across the country from Copperas Cove Texas to Logan Utah, and Coeur d’ Alane Idaho to Tulsa Oklahoma, and to one daughter in an apartment at BYU-Idaho.  Nancy and I wanted to be a part of their Book of Mormon study even though we were far away.

We gave all of them a set of Book of Mormon study guides for Christmas, and encouraged them to read and study together in their homes.  We thought it would be unifying if they were all studying from the same books.  I’d like to read a paragraph of a letter Nancy wrote and included with our gift.  I’ll get her permission to do this right after church today.

(Nancy quote) 

“I know that in order for you to be able to teach your children to love the Book of Mormon you must first have your own personal understanding and testimony of it’s truthfulness.  As you study it individually and with your families it will bring peace to your homes and your lives. You and your children will be strengthened and will be able to withstand the temptations that are all around us today. . . . I know that the principles, doctrines, and teachings found in the Book of Mormon will lead you to true happiness far greater than anything the world has to offer. It will lead you to Christ, the true source of Joy.” (end quote)

Allow me to tell a story of a family that came to Christ and found joy through reading the Book of Mormon.

Twenty years ago we were living in Merced, California.   One day, I had to go across the street to the neighbors and apologize for my daughter and nephew who had shot their picture window, accidentally, with a BB gun. 

We didn’t know the neighbors well, and this was the first time we had spoken.  They explained that their little boy and girl had been under the window, and if it had shattered it would have been disastrous.  They were, understandably, very upset.  Luckily, there was just a nice BB hole in the window, and no glass shattering. 

After the exchange, we knew their names for the first time, but really had no true relationship with them.  They did not appreciate that we had guns in the house . . . and were leery of parents who would let five year-olds play with guns. 

In reality, these neighbors were nice enough.  The grandma would sit on the porch and smoke cigarettes in between planting flowers in the flower beds in front of the house.  The dad would go to work every day at the city refuge plant, and at night would study to be a fireman.   The mom would stay home and take their two children on walks. 

We would watch each other from across the street, but never really talked.  We knew their first names, but not their last, and vice versa.  Because they were all really, really short, I started thinking of them as the short family.

The grandma spent more and more time on the front porch smoking and caring for her flowers.  She became part of the scenery of our daily life.  The smoking flower lady. 

Then one day, she wasn’t there anymore. 

A short time later, I got a phone call.  It was from a young couple looking for someone to conduct a funeral.  They said their mother had passed away, that she had been Mormon when she was young.  Before she died, she told the kids to call a Mormon bishop and he would help arrange the funeral.  So they had gone to the phone book and called around until they found the bishop of the boundaries where they lived.

I was that bishop.

On the phone, I had no idea who they were, and they had no idea who I was.  We had a short conversation, and then I asked for their address so I could come visit and talk in person.

Imagine my surprise to discover that it was my neighbors across the street. 

And, imagine their surprise when about ten seconds after hanging up the phone, I knocked on their door to introduce myself as the bishop they had just called.  They had no idea what a Mormon bishop looked like, but they were pretty sure it wasn’t me.  The irresponsible parent of gun toten 5 year olds.

After the shock wore off, we talked about the funeral arrangements.  Then, through tears, they asked me where she was?  I remember getting down on the floor and sketching our Heavenly Father’s plan in their carpet.  Then I went home and got them a Book of Mormon.

They learned how to pray, and they read the book.  They gained testimonies of the Book of Mormon, and were baptized. 

Then, we moved to Rexburg, and slowly lost track of each other.

13 years later, I was in my office at BYU-Idaho and a good looking, very short, young man came and stood in my doorway.  He asked if I knew who he was.  I knew immediately he was the little boy under the window with the BB hole in it.  He was getting ready to go on his mission.  He told me his dad was in the bishopric and his mom was the primary president. 

Their callings were not important, but the fact that they were strong in the gospel was.

Obviously, back at the time, there were a lot of things going on in this little family’s life, but it was the Book of Mormon that changed their life and their family forever. 

Once they had a testimony of the Book of Mormon through the help of the Holy Ghost, they knew that Joseph Smith was a prophet.  And, once they knew that Joseph Smith was a prophet, they knew the principles and ordinances of the gospel, as revealed through him, were necessary to be together as a family forever.  It was a game changer, and their lives were never the same.

As Tad R. Callister of the presidency of the 70 said in last General Conference, “That is the genius of the Book of Mormon—there is no middle ground. It is either the word of God as professed, or it is a total fraud. This book does not merely claim to be a moral treatise or theological commentary or collection of insightful writings. It claims to be the word of God—every sentence, every verse, every page.  Joseph Smith declared that an angel of God directed him to gold plates, which contained the writings of prophets in ancient America, and that he translated those plates by divine powers. If that story is true, then the Book of Mormon is holy scripture, just as it professes to be; if not, it is a sophisticated but, nonetheless, diabolical hoax.” (end quote)

Moroni reminds us that knowing whether it’s true or not comes by the power of the Holy Ghost.  He says in Moroni 10:3-5,

“3.  Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder (them) in your hearts.

4.  And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you.

5.  And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.”

Now, let me tell you why I love the Book of Mormon.

I love the Book of Mormon because it is a book with a claim and a book with a promise. The claim is that every word is from God.  The promise is that we can know for ourselves.

When I was 7 or 8 years old I stayed home from church one Sunday with my dad.  Some of you know my dad and you know he is not a member of the church.  As a child, I idolized him and wanted to grow up to be just like him.  And I still do.  I was getting close to baptism age and my mom told me I had to ask my dad’s permission if I wanted to get baptized.  She was a member of the church and would take me my brother and two sisters to church.  He would go sometimes, but would normally stay home.

That Sunday, I remember sitting on our orange vinyl couch in the family room with my dad.  I asked him if he believed in Jesus.  He said yes.  So I asked why he didn’t go to church with my mom.  I remember him telling me the Book of Mormon was not true, and that he worshiped Jesus Christ and not Joseph Smith, so he had a different church. I didn’t ask him if I could get baptized because I didn’t feel ready.

Even at that young age, I knew I had to learn for myself if the church was true or not before I should even consider baptism.

It didn’t take me long.  I liked the idea that I could be with my family forever, so I got baptized when I was 9.  I suppose my testimony was shallow and small and more in the form of hope than anything else.  At the time, all I really knew about the Book of Mormon came from primary songs like “Book of Mormon Stories that my Teacher Told to Me”.

Then when I was almost 12 and about to get the Aaronic Priesthood, my mom told me again that I had to ask my Dad if it was okay.  I still idolized him, and wanted to be like him.  Again, he reaffirmed to me that he did not believe the Book of Mormon and he did not believe Joseph Smith was a prophet . . . but I could do what I wanted. 

This time, I felt a more urgent desire to know if the Book of Mormon was true or not, and if Joseph Smith was a prophet or not.

It was soon summer and we went on vacation.  I remember praying alone out loud in a second story bedroom of my grandmother’s house in Filer Idaho.  I had been reading the Book of Mormon and wanted to know if it were true or not.

I was young, but the Holy Ghost confirmed to me that it was true.  And because it was true, I knew Joseph was a prophet.  I felt peace and calm.  This is the first time I think I really had a testimony of my own.  So, when we went back to California, I got the priesthood.

When I first learned for myself that the Book of Mormon was true, it was like the sun coming up on a fresh spring day.  Everything was better, brighter, cleaner, and clearer.  I knew that Joseph Smith was a prophet, but I also knew it was not about him.

As L. Whitney Clayton of the Presidency of the Seventy said in last conference:

“We are grateful for Joseph Smith and watch with wonder as his name is revered and, yes, even reviled ever more widely across the earth. But we recognize that this mighty latter-day work is not about him. It is the work of Almighty God and His Son, the Prince of Peace.” (end quote)

In 2^nd Corinthians, Paul taught that “in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.”  I came to believe that the Bible was one witness of Jesus Christ, and the Book of Mormon was a second witness of Jesus Christ.

As Brother Callister said in conference, “Together with the Bible, the Book of Mormon is an indispensable witness of the doctrines of Christ and His divinity. Together with the Bible, it “teach[es] all men that they should do good” and that they should believe and have faith in Jesus Christ.

(2 Nephi 33:10)

My testimony of the Book of Mormon was gradually growing.

When I graduated from high school, I had no pressure to go on a mission, but felt like if it were the right thing to do, then I should do it.  I still idolized my dad, and he still did not believe in the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith, or missions.  Again, I had to renew my testimony of the Book of Mormon.   Because I knew that if the Book of Mormon were true, then Joseph Smith was a prophet.  And if he was a prophet, then the gospel as restored through him was true and I wanted to share that no matter the sacrifice. 

If it weren’t true, then I had better things to do with my time.

                                                                                   

The day after graduation, My brother, a friend, and I shaved our heads and left California in a 1967 red Volkswagen bug for a 6 week roadtrip / backpack trip to the Sawtooth mountains of Idaho.  I remember one day along the way, bucking hay for an uncle to make some money.  We didn’t wear hats.  After a day in the sun our heads were covered with blisters that oozed relentlessly. 

That night, I remember reading the bible and the Book of Mormon as I dabbed at my head with a wet cloth.

I also remember another night in the same small town, being yanked from the car and searched for drugs by well meaning police.  I had never touched a drug in my life, so, of course there was nothing for them to find.

That was my first experience with what we now call “profiling”.  California plates, red Volkswagen, shaved heads, dragging main, unfamiliar teenagers. . . . I guess we shouldn’t have been surprised.  We were good kids . . . just a little lacking in common sense.

That night, after being searched, I remember searching the scriptures again.

When we got to the mountains, over 800 miles from home, we only took one bag of rice, a fishing pole, and a 22 caliber  rifle because our plan was to quote, “live off the land.”  To make a long story short,

We starved.  But I read from the Book of Mormon and the bible every day.

I remember my sleeping bag getting soaked in a rain storm, so I slept under a low footbridge with no sleeping gear while the rain dripped through the cracks and the bridge acted as an efficient refrigerator.  And, the creek rose.  To make a long story short,

We froze.  But I had time under the bridge to ponder the Book of Mormon.

I also remember having no water and hiking high on the mountains looking down on the taunting Middle Fork of the Salmon river for hours.  Finally, after getting to the river and getting a drink, I didn’t have the energy to walk 30 yards to a shady flat area, so I collapsed on a pile of bowling ball size rocks in the burning sun and woke up a couple of hours later.   to make a long story short,

We were exhausted.   But I prayed about the Book of Mormon.

I read the Book of Mormon, and had lots of time to think about it, and I prayed about it.  Again, the Holy Ghost witnessed to me that it was from God, and I felt peace and calm.

As soon as we hit the pavement, our friend, who had grown tired of the advertised mountain man trip that had turned into a religious retreat, hitch hiked home to California in two days.  My brother and I hitch hiked to our car in Stanley and drove home.  It was a great adventure.

Although there were lots of things to talk about and remember from this trip.  The thing I remember most is that,

I recaptured and renewed my testimony of the Book of Mormon.  I knew it was of God, and I knew Joseph Smith was a prophet. 

It was a hard thing for me and my family, especially my dad, mom, and sisters - but I went on my mission to Japan, leaving five days after my brother left on his mission to the Philippines.  Since then, I have daily recaptured and renewed my testimony of the Book of Mormon.  It has been life changing.

Finding the answer to “is the Book of Mormon true?” is something we can only do for ourselves and it takes effort.  But, the effort is worth it.  And, the effort to constantly renew our testimonies is also worth it.

The Book of Mormon testifies that Jesus is the Christ; the bible testifies that Jesus is the Christ, and I testify that Jesus is the Christ. 

I hope that all of us will take President Andersen’s challenge to read and study the Book of Mormon this year.  May we as individuals and as families daily renew and recapture our testimonies of the Savior, and increase the unity in our homes as we read, ponder, and pray.  And, in the process move as the hymn says –“Nearer My God to Thee” . . .

Last week we helped move Allison to Logan, Utah, and Courtney to Snow View apartments in Rexburg.  We are super excited for both of them!  We are having soooo much fun watching all of our kids and the things they are doing.  In fact, we are so happy with each one of them that we haven't much noticed the "empty nest." 

Allison and Courtney on moving out and moving on.

What a wonderful Christmas!  We were blessed to have Logan/Rachel and family, Griffin/Ashland and family, Allison, and Courtney all here for Christmas.  It was fun, fun, fun!   The best part was just visiting with everyone and, of course, holding and playing with grandkids.  

Some of the things some or all of us did were:  Christmas morning excitement, skyping Matt/Haley and Bennett, cross country skiing into a yurt for the night at Harriman State Park (Nancy and Allison babysat the kids at home), sledding in the street, picking apples in December, going to movies, watching football, eating pizza with Susan and Fred, going to the climbing gym, moving Allison’s stuff to Logan, playing games, spades (a game, but worth special mention), visiting Grandma Hill, seeing Kaitlin and Hayden, shopping, exchanging, eating, cooking, racquetball, talking, holding kids, playing with the kid’s toys, driving, etc.

Logan and Griffin have both taken their families home so,

Now, Sunday January 1st, it is Nancy, Allison, Courtney, and me again.  What a fun, fun, core of four.  The sad but exciting news is that Allison will move to Logan on Tuesday, and Courtney will move to an apartment.  So, it will be Nancy and me starting Wednesday.  The kids are ready to be gone and moving on, and we are excited for them.   

We really are their number one fans.

We still need to get pictures off the multiple cameras that were constantly clicking, but here are a few pictures.  Enjoy.