MT Stories: Go to Church, Clean Out Unwanted Ash From Your Soul

Like ashes in your pellet stove, your soul needs a weekly cleaning, too.  Another good idea is to change out of your white shirt and tie before you clean that stove!

Give the 44¢ Gift this Holiday Season

Write a friend, help the US Postal Service

Mail mail mail...  its a thing I love to see at the end of each day out here in Montana.  Waking up at 6:30 am, reading scriptures and studying, and heading out the door by 10 am to teach the Gospel until 9 pm makes for a long day.  There's a lot that runs through your mind as you give your all to help people find their faith in Jesus Christ.  To ease the stress, there's nothing like opening up a letter from a family member or friend encouraging you in the work and showing interest in what your doing.  Those letters do mean a lot to me, especially since you can hold them in your hand and read the personal handwritten messages over and over again.  While email's are great and I send one every week to my family back home, nothing can beat that of a letter received in the mail.

History Lessons: The Lesson from Pearl Harbor?

Don't ever let your guard down.

Today, December 7, 2011, marks 70 years since the attack on Pearl Harbor.  As we look back on it, the main reason it was so devastating was because all the warning signs had been ignored.  There was no lacking in the military's ability or firepower to face the impending threat, they simply did not have enough eyes and ears on the lookout to heed the warnings.  And the warnings were there, alright.  Its just that no one paid any attention paid to them.

Applying the Prophet Joseph Smith to Our Lives

What I discovered from Joseph's life is a model, a basic outline if you will, to find and follow Jesus Christ in any circumstance, trial, or situation.

On my first Sunday here in Helena, I was assigned to speak to one of the congregations.  The topic given to me was this, "How can we use (apply) Joseph Smith in our lives".  There is a lot to be said about this man's life and prophetic calling.  For some, many might say,  "I admire your church very much. I think I could accept everything about it—except Joseph Smith." Gordon B. Hinckley, 15th  President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, gave a response saying that "that statement is a contradiction. If you accept the revelation, you must accept the revelator."  Joseph Smith's claim to have seen God and Jesus Christ was the beginning of what created the Church as it stands today and was, from the onset, a matter of harsh persecution for its members.  As for Joseph, the opposition never ceased up until his martyrdom by an armed mob on June 27th, 1844.