cast the gift of a loving thought

If instead of gem, or even a flower,

We should cast the gift of a loving thought

Into the heart of a friend,

That would be giving as the angels give.

Friends are born, not made

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered.

Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.  Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.  Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you.  Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.  Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.  Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten.  Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.  Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God.  It was never between you and them anyway.

"Great effort from great motives is the best definition of a happy life."

Obstacles are those frightful

Things we see when we take our eyes

Off our goal

A true friend is someone

Who walks in when

The whole world walks out

Good Friends Care for each Other

Close Friends Understand each Other

And True Friends Stay forever

Beyond words,

Beyond time

We Live for Him

He died for us, We Live for Him.

Our hands can become His hands;

our eyes, His eyes;

our heart, His heart.

don't tell God how big your storm is

Tell your storm how big God is

Birds sing after a storm why shouldn't we?

As we pass through the trials of life, let us keep an eternal perspective,

let us not complain, let us become even more prayerful, let us serve others,

and let us forgive one another. As we do this,

 "all things will work together for good to us that love God."

Teenage Artist

Can't believe this was done by a teenager!!

There is a huge rock near a gravel pit on Hwy 25 in rural Iowa ...
For generations, kids have painted slogans, names, and obscenities on this rock, changing its character many times.

A while back, the rock received its latest paint job, and since then it has been left completely undisturbed.

It's quite an impressive sight. Be sure to scroll down and check out the multiple photos. (all angles) of the rock.

I thought the flag was draped over the rock, but it's not. It's actually painted on the rock too.

You may be only one person in the world, but
you may also be the world to one person.
AWESOME Work, RAY.... Thank you!
' God Bless America ' and 'OUR SOLDIERS AND VETS'

Here's the artist:

Ray Sorensen



He shall cover thee

He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Psalm 91:4 "Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly." unknown "The door to the spirit world swings both ways, yet to many of us, it only swings once. When we step through there's no turning back. From time to time we are allowed the opportunity to glance into the world beyond, which is a very special opportunity. In the temple, the door to the spirit world is open for those who's work is being performed, those who have passed on. Many of our kindred dead are able to enter through the spirit world door, into sacred rooms so they can be in attendance as their work is being completed. "

"Each of us will taste the bitter ashes of life,

from sin and neglect to sorrow and disappointment.

But the atonement of Christ can lift us up in beauty from our ashes

on the wings of a sure promise of immortality and eternal life.

He will thus lift us up, not only at the end of life, but in each day of our lives."

Bruce C. Hafen

   

Christlike attributes are the basics.

They are the fundamental principles that will create

"the wind beneath our wings."

As we develop Christlike attributes in our own lives,

step-by-step, they will "bear us up as on eagles' wings".

Our faith in Jesus Christ will provide power and a strong forward thrust;

our unwavering and active hope will provide a powerful upward lift.

Both faith and hope will carry us across oceans of temptations,

Of this I testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Let us reach out for the Carpenter's hand

 

                                                                                                       

"As you and I walk the pathway Jesus walked,

let us listen for the sound of sandaled feet.

Let us reach out for the Carpenter's hand. Then we shall come to know Him.

He may come to us as one unknown, without a name,

as by the lakeside He came to those men who knew Him not.

 He speaks to us the same words, "Follow thou me," and sets us to the task which

He has to fulfill for our time. He commands, and to those who obey Him,

whether they be wise or simple, He will reveal Himself in the toils, the conflicts,

the sufferings that they shall pass through in His fellowship;

and they shall learn in their own experience who He is."

Thomas S. Monson

that ye live in thanksgiving daily

The Love of Christ Will Never Fail Us

"We need to know that the Lord loves us. We need to know that He sees the good in us. Feeling His love encourages us to press forward, reassures us that we are His, and confirms to us that He cherishes us even when we stumble and experience temporary setbacks. . .

"Our Heavenly Father loved us before we came to this earth. I know that He loves us, as does His Son, Jesus Christ. That love will never change--it is constant. You can rely on it. You can trust it.

"Just as ….'charity never faileth,' we must believe that the love of Christ will never fail us.  We. . .reflect the love of our Savior and the love of our Heavenly Father. This great love is the source of our motivation to serve others.

It is both our point of origin and our destination!"

Bonnie D. Parkin

That ye contend no more against the Holy Ghost, but that ye receive it,

and take upon you the name of Christ; that ye humble yourselves even to the dust,

and worship God, in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and in truth;

and that ye live in thanksgiving daily,

for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you.

Alma 34:38

"Gratitude is of the very essence of worship. … When you walk with gratitude,

you do not walk with arrogance and conceit and egotism, you walk with a spirit of thanksgiving that is becoming to you and will bless your lives".

Sincerely giving thanks not only helps us recognize our blessings,

it also unlocks the doors of heaven and helps us feel God's love."

Gordon B Hinckley

Faith underlies it all

"You were chosen and foreordained to have the gospel in your life

and to be a leader in the cause of the restored gospel."

Neil L. Andersen

Never Forget You Are a Child of God

"Don't waste your time feeling sorry for yourself. Don't belittle yourself. Never forget that you are a child of God. You have a divine birthright. Something of the very nature of God is within you. The Psalmist sang, 'I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.' (Psalm 82:6.)"

Gordon B. Hinckley

"The Winter Quarters Temple property adjoins the burial ground of many who gave their lives for this cause which they regarded as more precious than life itself. Their journey to the valley of the Great Salt Lake is an epic without parallel. The suffering they endured, the sacrifices they made, became the cost of what they believed.

"I have in my office a small statue of my own pioneer grandfather burying beside the trail his wife and her brother who died on the same day. He then picked up his infant child and carried her to this valley.

"Faith? There can be no doubt about it. When doubts arose, when tragedies struck, the quiet voice of faith was heard in the stillness of the night as certain and reassuring as was the place of the polar star in the heavens above.

"It was this mysterious and wonderful manifestation of faith that brought reassurance, that spoke with certainty, that came as a gift from God concerning this great latter-day work. Countless, literally countless, are the stories of its expression in the pioneer period of the Church. But it does not stop there.

"As it was then, so it is today. This precious and marvelous gift of faith, this gift from God our Eternal Father, is still the strength of this work and the quiet vibrancy of its message. Faith underlies it all. Faith is the substance of it all. It is the faith within us that is evidenced in all we do."

Gordon B. Hinckley

He Searches the Heart

He Searches the Heart

Wayne E. Brickey

God seemed to spend a lot of time fussing and hovering over Job, training and trying him.

Why was Job so interesting to the Lord?

What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him?  And that thou shouldest set

thine heart upon him?  And that thou shouldest visit him every morning, and

try him every moment?

Job 7:17-18

Job's suffering was part of some big project.  He had vast potential not apparent to himself.

The Lord was more devoted to Job's future than Job was.

The only conflict between Job and his Creator was Job's reluctance to be made

into something more than he already was. The Creator had great plans for Job,

and he has great plans for us.

Each life's story is a serious one because our Creator has distinctly spiritual plans for us.

The plot, unclear to us, makes perfect sense to him because he refuses to see our lives narrowly.

All things unto me are spiritual, and not at any time have I given unto you a

Law which was temporal…For my commandments are spiritual.

The spiritual is the permanent rather than the temporary.  It is the entire, infinite picture,

rather than the sliver we now see.  The spiritual touches intangible processes and eternal

outcomes that cause us to resemble God.  The spiritual deals not just with spirit matter

but also with all matters that are spiritual in their powers and possibilities. 

Mortal life touches this realm all day long.

I the Lord search the heart.

Jeremiah 17:10

God always sees this realm, mindful of how the temporal affects the permanent.

He sees where things are headed.  He scans the heart for spots that need cleaning,

mending, building.  Of course, these spots do not show up unless we are under some stress.

The Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee,

and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart.

Deuteronomy 8:2

Even the most physical suffering is not strictly physical after all.  It does not end in the

physical realm where it began.  It soaks into the heart and spreads.  Suffering is finely connected to

the versatile and permanent self, the spirit.  Suffering is a spiritual matter.

God's view is so different from ours that his will often surprises us.

As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways,

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:9

His galaxy sized intentions are guaranteed to conflict with our little plans now and then.

If we will simply let his wisdom override ours, our uninspired goals will not restrict the story of

our lives, and we will become his greatest miracles.

You will have all kinds of trials to pass through.  And it is quite as necessary for you to be

tried as it was for Abraham and other men of God and… God will feel after you.

Joseph Smith

He feels after us.  He searches our hearts with His.