Photography Site

One of my ward friends is a photographer (among other things) and has a cool website at BHBPhotography. He just had a showing at his office--wonderful photos. They were taken in places like Hawaii, Alaska, Utah, California, Montreal, and more. If you see anything you like, you can buy photos in different sizes and on note cards, among other things (see the price page). Go over there and explore all the photos.

Brent has a real talent for photography and the pictures are beautiful. I'm putting a link to his site under "Art, Humanities" on my sidebar. Enjoy.

Psalm 23

I have no brilliant analysis. It is just beautiful to contemplate.

PSALM 23

1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Some Miscellany

Take a look at "On Being of Good Cheer" by yours truly!

Our weather in Oklahoma is delightful, but brings out my allergies in full force. Still, I like the cooler weather and the rain we got over the weekend.

I have been emailing a missionary couple serving in England. Delightful photos of English villages! I'm something of an Anglophile, so it's been fun. I also think it's a great idea to email/write missionaries in the field. They enjoy hearing from people and it's always nice for them to know that someone cares.

Halloween Meme

1. What's the scariest movie you've ever seen?

The scariest movie I've ever seen wasn't even a Halloween movie or a horror movie. It was a western--"Ulzana's Raid". I couldn't even finish watching it. For horror--I like subtle stuff like Alfred Hitchcock. "Psycho" was nice and scary.

2. What was your favorite Halloween Costume from childhood, and adulthood?

I'm not one to dress up myself, but I enjoy other's costumes. We have a guy at work who is great--last year he was Dog, the Bounty Hunter. A few years ago, he was the Joker. Excellent costumes. I also get a kick out of people dressing up as things like tacos or other ordinary things. And a dachshund dressed up as a hot dog always makes me smile.

3. If you had an unlimited budget, what would your Fantasy Costume be for this Halloween?

I would love to do a really good medieval costume--perhaps a squire's wife. Not too fancy and not too plain.

4. When was the last time you went Trick Or Treating?

When I was a little kid.

5. What's your favorite Halloween Candy?

I guess Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. That's my favorite anytime candy.

6. Tell us about a scary nightmare you had.

I will pass on this one--I've had nightmares since I was a small child. I can even still remember parts of some of them. I am not about to talk about them

7. What is your Supernatural Fear?

I'm not sure what this question is asking for, but I would say something like what happened in Stephen King's Pet Sematery. That was the book that scared me too much to ever read Stephen King again, even though I think he is a good writer.

8. What is your Creepy-Crawlie Fear?

I'm not overly afraid of creepy crawlies, but I don't like to have bugs crawl on me and I wouldn't want to be alone in a room with a rat.

9. Tell us about a time when you saw a ghost, or heard something go Bump in the night.

It hasn't been often and I don't want to talk about it.

10. Would you ever stay in a real Haunted House overnight?

No. I have a vivid imagination and even if nothing happened, I'd be scared silly.

11. Are you a traditionalist (just a face) Jack O'Lantern Carver, or do you get really creative with your pumpkins?

I don't carve pumpkins, but if I did, I would want to get some of those fancy stencils you see these days and do something beautiful.

12. How much do you decorate your home for Halloween?

I don't decorate for holidays as a rule. Nothing against it, but I live by myself so it really isn't important to me.

13. What do you want on your Tombstone?

Sausage, Peppers, and Onions. (I couldn't resist!)

Now I'm off to find someone to tag.

My Guest Post at "A Prayer of Faith"

My newest guest post at A Prayer of Faith is called "Patience is a Virtue." Go have a read and leave a comment there! There are other good posts to read, too.

Healing

2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. (Malachi 4:2)

I love that phrase "Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings". We all need some sort of healing. Maybe it is physical, but it is just as likely to be emotional, spiritual, mental, or social. Perhaps we need to be forgiven, or perhaps we need to forgive others and discard bitterness and grudges.

Our pasts shape us. Now that we are all grown up (at least in theory!), we can discard the baggage that has negative consequences on who we are now. I believe we need the Lord's help to do this. He can show us what we need to be rid of, what we need to be healed from. And then, as we exercise our faith in Him, He can heal us. Some things may be more of a struggle than others, but with faith and persistance in prayer and fasting and studying the scriptures; with calling upon the Priesthood for blessings as needed; with doing all we can ourselves, even as we call upon the Lord, we can be healed.

The healing may not be what we expected. We may be healed by becoming stronger so that we can bear our infirmities. We may be healed by a change in our own attitudes or viewpoints. Whatever the case, we are sure to learn and grow through this process of allowing the Lord to heal us. Perhaps the healing will take the form of that very "allowing"--of no longer holding back parts of us, heart and soul, from the Lord. Perhaps we will be healed of fears that keep us from taking steps we need to take, of living the life we need to live.

5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)

"With his stripes we are healed." He took everything upon Himself for all of us and that includes healing power.

18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, (Luke 4:18)

Wow! Jesus Christ was anointed to do all of that for all of us. I hardly know where to begin in expressing my gratitude to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. But one way we can express our gratitude is to let Him heal us.

Allowing this healing to take place is a lifelong process because as old things are healed, new things are discovered that need healing. But as we begin to feel whole, we will not begrudge the effort to continue.

I think that I do not fully realize all that God has done and continues to do for us. I think that I do not fully understand all of the meanings in His scriptures and in doctrines and teachings. I do not believe that we have to realize and understand everything in order to progress in what we do have a grasp of. We move forward a step at a time and, as we do so, we progress rather than regress.

May we all progress in the gospel.

About the Gifts of the Spirit

On 10 September 2006 Elder Henry B. Eyring of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles gave a talk at a CES Fireside. His talk was titled "Gifts of the Spirit for Hard Times" and can be found here.

One thing that Elder Eyring talks about is what is required of us in order to consistently have the gift of the Holy Ghost in our lives on a daily basis. He lists those requirements as faith in our Heavenly Father and in Jesus Christ, being clean (i.e., repenting of our sins as needed and trying to avoid sins), and having pure motives (i.e., wanting the gifts of the spirit for the Lord's purposes and not for our own selfish reasons). His six page talk, of course, explains in much greater detail what he means by these three requirements.

Elder Eyring quotes some promises that the Lord has made to us through His prophets:

“And now, verily, verily, I say unto thee, put your
trust in that Spirit which leadeth to do good—yea, to
do justly, to walk humbly, to judge righteously; and
this is my Spirit.

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, I will impart unto you
of my Spirit, which shall enlighten your mind, which
shall fill your soul with joy” (D&C 11:12–13).


“And at that day, when I shall come in my glory,
shall the parable be fulfilled which I spake
concerning the ten virgins.

“For they that are wise and have received the truth,
and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and
have not been deceived—verily I say unto you, they
shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire, but
shall abide the day.

“And the earth shall be given unto them for an
inheritance; and they shall multiply and wax strong,
and their children shall grow up without sin unto
salvation.

“For the Lord shall be in their midst, and his glory
shall be upon them, and he will be their king and
their lawgiver” (D&C 45:56–59).


Those are some important promises and some very sweet ones. And they can be ours if we will exercise our faith, be clean, and have right motives. As Elder Eyring says, those are things we must work on continuously, but the gains we will make will be more than worth the effort.

This talk was very inspirational to me and gives some specific direction as to actions we can take to improve our lot spiritually.

[For any readers who are not LDS, the scriptures that we use can be found online here.]

A New Link to a Good Blog (Updated)

I have put a new link in my "Bloggernacle Links" to Gospel Cougar. Go check it out. TylerD's got some posts with great links to LDS sites and some posts with commentary about various gospel topics. I think you'll enjoy it.

I've also put up a new link to T F Stern's Rantings in my sidebar. T F Stern is an LDS man in Houston and I think you'll enjoy his blog. I would put a link to it here in this post but for some reason my efforts to update and link aren't working right. So for this one time, you're on your own!!!

I Love General Conference

I have so enjoyed General Conference. Great talks, beautiful music. I'm not taking notes this time, but Guy Murray at Messenger and Advocate has done a fantastic job of notes and has put up pictures of the GAs and Auxilary Leaders who've spoken or given a prayer. He also links to other threads/posts around the Bloggernacle for your perusal and edification. Thanks, Guy!

It seems like every talk has been something I needed to hear. I loved the one on patience yesterday. They have all covered material I need to pay attention to. Here's to improving my life!