JESSIE'S VEGAS

I think my friends get tired of me telling our dog story, but I am going to recount it anyway in tribute of a very special dog that came into our lives 10 years ago and passed away peacefully yesterday.  We had just moved to Las Vegas and one of our children was not doing well adjusting at their new school. We had gone to a lot of trouble moving to a school district with good ratings, but bullying and indifference can occur anywhere and we discovered it found us again. I was beyond desperate to help this child that was retreating further into her own reality and less in ours. Night terrors and auditory hallucinations filled her mind. We were desperate to find help. One morning, in the space between sleep and awakening, the following thought came through my head. " Get her a dog. Animals are our guardian angels on earth". This surprised me as I had always enjoyed animals, but never thought of them in this kind of role.  I did not relate this to my daughter and ,frankly, I do ...

April 18, 2018 Last week sucked. I know some people don't like that word, but then I didn't like last week either so I needed an appropriate descriptive word. To combat the stress, I found myself outside more, craving the wind in my hair and the birds singing their sweet songs of joy in my ears. Being outside is paramount, as I have found over the years that this is how God communicates his love to me.  He sends flowers to brighten my day and mixes his palette of colors in the rays of the rising sun. Occasionally he even sends hidden mercy blessings that some might called coincidences.  To me, these things just show God can't always control who gets lemons,AKA "bad circumstances", but I have discovered he is a particularly wonderful connoisseur of lemonade.   My work week had been  trying,  going from one room saving a mom and baby from a rapid-fire abruption type labor, to the solemn room down the hall of loss.  Cheering one family on, while...

"Every one of us, in one way or another, great or small, dramatic or incidental, is going to spend a little time in Liberty Jail—spiritually speaking. We will face things we do not want to face for reasons that may not have been our fault. Indeed, we may face difficult circumstances for reasons that were absolutely right and proper, reasons that came because we were trying to keep the commandments of the Lord. We may face persecution; we may endure heartache and separation from loved ones; we may be hungry and cold and forlorn. Yes, before our lives are over we may all be given a little taste of what the prophets faced often in their lives. But the lessons of the winter of 1838–39 teach us that every experience can become a redemptive experience if we remain bonded to our Father in Heaven through that difficulty. These difficult lessons teach us that man’s extremity is God’s opportunity, and if we will be humble and faithful, if we will be believing and not curse God for our prob...

Tears have spilled over onto my soggy pillowcase. Their damp, unwanted presence seep into my dream and interrupt my subconscious wanderings. I rub my sleep weary eyes in an attempt to reorient myself in time.  Where am I ? In my last thought I was old and then in the next scene I was young. My body turns and morphs somewhere to an inbetween indeterminate age.  "This is so silly, why can't my body make up it's mind if I'm young, old or somewhere in between?" And then , "Because you are all of those things! You are young, you are old, and not only in between,  you are eternal!" "Oh of course I am!Mr. Sandman!!Ok, if that's possible then take me back to the place where my kids were little, cuz that was the hardest yet best time of my life! So I teleported, actually Dave drove me in our old teal dodge van  which suddenly had the magical properties of a time machine, complete with the messy food stained carseats. We flew back to the beautiful wh...

You have been on my mind! You may argue, "Aw...this is a "form letter" or group letter to all the missionaries in the ward, how is "that" personal?" "Heck, I don't know Sister Budge that well, why is she writing to me? " Or, you might even think, "Oh, no! Another letter from home, I hope I don't have to personally respond." I am setting your mind at ease by saying, "You don't have to respond!" And/or maybe this letter is more for me...kinda like when you prepare a talk or lesson it's more for the person preparing it. I was looking at the ward bulletin last week and the missionary list stood out to me. We have 8 missionaries serving from the ward! WOW! That's gotta be some kind of record! I also had the impression, "You could pray for the missionaries in your ward by name! You could also write to them!"Then I was listening to the talk by sister "Runia" in general conference about ...

There was a guy named Nathanael in biblical times. Not a lot is known about his background or profession, but he did have a friend named Philip. One day his Philip comes by his house and says, "Hey, Nate, why don't you come with me and we will go see this super cool rabbi. He might even be the chosen one and he is from Nazareth. Nathanel says, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Perhaps this meant Nazareth was not the most popular place back then and might have even been known as one of those arm-pit sorts of towns like Barstow, California😅???? Anyhow, despite his misgivings Nathanael still agrees to go. Surprisingly,  when the rabbi  "Jesus" sees Nathanael he acts like they already know each other and he  says,"Behold an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile!" Nathanael is stunned and replies, “Whence knowest Thou me?” Nathanael did not remember having met Jesus before, so he was probably shocked when Christ acts like he knows him. Jesus...