BROKEN AND BLESSED

Last night I found a piece of paper in one my notebooks with a couple paragraphs highlighted. I think it was part of someone's sacrament meeting talk that I asked if I could have a copy of this summer. I read them last night, this morning, and again in sacrament meeting. It made me think a lot about symbolism in the administration of the sacrament and also about the purpose of life. I wish I knew who had given these words to me so I could thank them for them. I believe them. The pathway of discipleship has always been one of first being broken and then being blessed and strengthened through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. The Gospel is about realizing our weaknesses, depending on the Savior, asking for and receiving His help, and then blessing the lives of those around us. As Christ gave his body for all mankind, we too must consecrate our lives in serving those around us. How blessed we are to be able to partake of the sacrament each week, renew our covenants, and partake of that power. 

The purpose of the Fall of Adam and Eve, the purpose of our weakened mortal condition is to humble us, to cause us to recognize that there is something beyond our earthly capabilities that we must obtain, a power source we must access if we ever hope to be saved from our fallen condition. This power is the grace of God. This power is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. This power however, does not flow seamlessly into us regardless of our personal accountability.

Throughout the scriptures, Christ always spoke by way of invitation, "Come follow me." In this, the dispensation of the fullness of times we have the privilege of coming and following Christ by covenant. Each week as we partake of the sacrament, we promise to take Christ's name upon us and in doing so, we gain access to the full power of His atoning sacrifice.

The sacrament, as instituted by Christ, was not only an example of his own life, but an illustration of the purpose of our lives as well. Just as he took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it away, he was teaching his apostles what it mean to live a spiritual life.

Henri J.M. Nouwen, a Catholic priest, wrote, "At some point, a religious soul must find himself taken by God, he must feel that God has claimed him as his own. Then, he must be blessed and broken [or in the order of the Sacrament today - broken and blessed]. He must have his pride broken down, his appetites, his selfishness, everything that hampers spiritual growth. This can take some time. I think this is where the commandments come in. Fasting and chastity break down our natural desires. Tithing breaks down our attachment to money. Submission to authority breaks down our lust for power. And service breaks our quest for glory. The world must eventually be abandoned. Once we've been taken and broken - like the bread - we are blessed - blessed with new hearts. And then, like the bread, we are to be given away. We must go out and find others and bless their lives as well."

Broken and blessed, this is the whole sum of our life's purpose. To break down the natural man within us and then let humility drive us to service. As we do so we are blessed, we are sanctified, we are born again.

"And I will give them one heart and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart our of your flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh." (Ezekiel 11:19) 

QUESTIONS OF THE SOUL

Lately I have been very grateful for the Book of Mormon. As I've been stressed about school work or thinking about the future and how I want my life to go, I've turned to the Book of Mormon to give me direction and understanding. More than explaining eternal truths and doctrine, the book also brings the Spirit into my life to lift my spirit, energize my soul, and give me courage to face another day. The Book of Mormon was written for our day - for us to read and apply to our lives. This past week I've made a list of questions of the soul that the Book of Mormon answers.

How can I come to know Christ?     Mosiah 5:13
What will happen when I die?     Alma 40
Why must I be born again?     Mosiah 27:24-29
Why am I given weaknesses?     Jacob 4:7
Why do bad things happen?    2 Nephi 2:11
How do I make it through trials?    Mosiah 7:33
How can I know if I have been forgiven?    Alma 36:18-21
What can I do if I have faith in Christ?     1 Nephi 7:12
How is salvation possible?     Mosiah 3:17
How do I overcome the natural man?     Mosiah 3:19
How should I be baptized?     3 Nephi 11:21-26
How is it possible for me to be healed by Christ?     3 Nephi 17:7-9
How do I stand guiltless before God in the last day?     3 Nephi 27:16
What should I pray for?     Alma 34:17-27
What is the purpose of my life?     Alma 34:32
What is most desirable above all other things?     1 Nephi 11:22
What if there were no Christ?     1 Nephi 10:4-6
What happens when people put their hearts on riches?     Helaman 6:17
How do the Bible and the Book of Mormon work together?   Mormon 7:8-9
How can I know the truth?    Moroni 10:5
What happens if I have true charity for my fellowmen?    Moroni 7:45-48
Why do we have trials?     Helaman 12:3

STREETS I KNEW SO WELL

Sometimes as I sleep, I walk
once again down Cherokee Street
past Nebraska, California, and on towards Jefferson. 
I loved this time of year:
the trees perfectly reddened to match the buildings.
I smell fresh tamales and Mexican laundry detergent
and feel warm beneath layers of sweaters. 
So many faces pass me I talked to and grew to love.
I bike down Gravois passing Grand and Compton.
Crumbling redgraybrownbrick duplexes where city buses pass
taking people places.
People from so many places once foreign to me.
Others sit on their porches and stair
near Utah by Compton and Juniata -
waiting, conversing, as if nothing else mattered but
a somnolent sidewalk of cement.
I pass more apartment buildings covered in satellites dishes,
people far from their family
trying to connect to something that reminds them of home.
This place has become my home
I realize, as I drive through forest park on Clayton,
and think about how the past two years have gone so fast.
My first day in the field was in March.
My trainer and I on bikes, the barbecues, bright green grass,
down Paris, Rogers, and Wilkes.
Feeling so young and so white,
soon to be lost in so many colors.
Learning to be patient, to have faith, to believe,
and to talk to everyone I could.
I think about the doorsteps I cried on saying good-bye
Keokuk between Gustine and Barnberger.
And about the enpanadas, pupusas, hand pressed tortillas and jamaica.
The arch and all it meant to me. 
Watson, Chippewa, Arsenal,
Manchester and Kingshighway.

ELDER RICHARD G. SCOTT - THE POWER OF SCRIPTURE

"Scriptures are like packets of light that illuminate our minds and give place to guidance and inspiration from on high. They can become the key to open the channel to communion with our Father in Heaven and His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ.

The scriptures provide the strength of authority to our declarations when they are cited correctly. They can become stalwart friends that are not limited by geography or calendar. They are always available when needed. Their use provides a foundation of truth that can be awakened by the Holy Ghost. Learning, pondering, searching, and memorizing scriptures is like filling a filing cabinet with friends, values, and truths that can be called upon anytime, anywhere in the world.

Great power can come from memorizing scriptures. To memorize a scripture is to forge a new friendship. It is like discovering a new individual who can help in time of need, give inspiration and comfort, and be a source of motivation for needed change. "

-Elder Richard G. Scott. "The Power of Scripture." October 2011 General Conference. 

FAVORITE QUOTES ABOUT THE TEMPLE

 "And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." 

-Isaiah 2:2-3

"The temple was a place of learning for the Savior when He was on the earth; it was very much part of His life. Temple blessings are available once again in our day."  

-James E. Faust

"As we touch the temple and love the temple, our lives will reflect our faith. As we go to the holy house, as we remember the covenants we make therein, we will be able to bear every trial and overcome each temptation. The temple provides purpose for our lives. It brings peace to our souls - not the peace provided by men but the peace promised by the Son of God when He said, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

-Thomas S. Monson

“It [the temple] will refine your natures. It will peel off the selfish shell in which most of us live. It will literally bring a sanctifying element into our lives and make us better men and women…Here we can reflect on the great goodness of the Lord to us. Here we can reflect on the great plan of happiness which our Father has outlined for His children…do it while you still have the strength to do it."

-Gordon B. Hinckley

"Our ancestors, along with many other faithful Saints, sacrificed everything because of their testimonies and faith in Jesus Christ. They knew that the gospel had been restored to the earth once more and that they were led by a prophet of God. They knew that the Book of Mormon was true and understood its message and witness. They knew that through the restoration of priesthood keys, families could be sealed together for eternity through holy priesthood ordinances available only in a temple. They knew that temple work was the key to the salvation and exaltation of the human family. They knew the importance of this work, and they were willing to give all that they had in order to provide a house acceptable to the Lord wherein this holy work could be performed. They sacrificed everything so that past and future generations would have access to the 

eternal blessings of the temple."  

-Elaine S. Dalton

SONGS WITH REAL MEANING

"She said, 'no one is alone the way you are alone'
And you held her looser than you would have if you ever could have known
Some things tie your life together, slender threads and things to treasure
Days like that should last and last and last."

"But it's warmer where you're waiting.
It feels more like July.
There's pillows in their cases,
and one of those is mine.
And you wrote the words 'I love you',
and sprayed it with perfume.
It's better than the fire is
to heat this lonely room.
It's warmer where you're waiting
It feels more like July.
It feels more like July."

"I am fairly agile
I can bend and not break
Or I can break and take it with a smile
And I am so resilient
I recover quickly
I'll convince you soon that I am fine." 

"Is there time?
Is there time to follow just one desire?
Is there time?
Is there time to follow your heart's?
Dress your wounds
Test your strength
Face the night
Crave the touch
Feel the pain
Know the signs
Is there truth in your pain?
You decide."

"And follow me south of the big docks
they teather the boats
the rich men revere
as so important
they hire our fathers to steer.
And down to the edge of the water
where we'll spill our guts
and we'll name our fears
I'll give you this picture
keep it and don't be scared."

"And the night can freeze, before you set it on fire.
And our flares go unnoticed.
Dimminished, faded just as soon as they are fired."

"Pouring over photographs.
I'm living in your letters.
Breathe deeply from this envelope
it smells like you and I can't be
without that scent. It's filling me
with all you mean to me.
Hope has sprung a perfect dive
a perfect day, a perfect lie.
A slowly crafted monologue
conceding your defeat." 

"Tonight, they're burning the roads they built to lead us to the light.
And blinding our hearts with their shining lies,
while closing our caskets cold and tight. But I'm dying to live."

"I'm starting to panic
remember she asked you
remember to breathe
and everything will be okay."

"And from the ballroom floor we are in celebration
One good stretch before our hibernation
Our dreams assured and we all, will sleep well."

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE TRACKS

Out my bedroom window I can see just north of the railroad tracks.
Just past them a canyon, a trail.
I go down to Benton and over the bridge.
This afternoon I rode to take a break
and to be refreshed by the creek,
the quietness, the stability of the seasons. 
Leaves less colored than the last time:
higher up the trail they change from green to yellow to red.
The slender moon up in the sky.
Fallen leaves floating down
faster than the stream that carries them.
I didn't stop for water from my backpack.
Only reaching in my pocket to pull out my camera.
Life's better this way. 
My legs burn.
It's been too long since I got away.
Away from the books, the classroom, and the lab. 
The way down my bike tire bounces off rocks
that could send me into the bushes.
My elbows shaking, start to itch
from the vibration, the wind, the rush
of remembering what it feels like to be alive -
to be the one making my own tracks again.

OCTOBER GENERAL CONFERENCE 2010

This past week I've been looking over my notes from General Conference and have thought a lot about what I learned and changes I want to make in my life. I'm so grateful to have a living prophet today to guide and direct us. All the church leaders are such intelligent, humble, and inspiring people that help me learn more about Jesus Christ and how I can find more joy through living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. A friend reminded me that not only are the speakers inspired to share things that will help us in our lives, but we too are prepared to receive what they will share with us. It's always crazy how many things that are touched on always apply directly to me and things I have been pondering. Each conference is also always an uplifting reminder to me of what is most important in life and a reminder of how real the gospel is. It helps me refocus my priorities and what matters most. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is God's church restored again on the earth with all the authority and keys of God. I'm grateful God calls prophets to lead us and give us direction today in this crazy world!

These are some of the things that stood out the most to me this conference:

• A testimony of the gospel comes in private powerful manifestations. 
• It is sometimes easier to believe dead prophets than living prophets. 
• The attitude of a teacher is not taught but caught. 
• A consecrated life is full or work. 
• When we experience tough times in life, we need to slow down and focus on what is most important. 
• The key relationships in life are with God, our families, our fellowmen, and ourselves. 
• Wrong choices diminish our ability to act in the future. 
• There is no safer way to approach life, than by following the prophet. 
• In temple mirrors we should see ourselves at children of our ancestors and parents of our posterity; we are to see ourselves home with Heavenly Father. 
• Faith changes simple acts to great acts. 
• The Book of Mormon is truly a prepared tool to gather scattered Israel home. 
• Complete healing is found only at the Savior's feet. 
• The Anti-Nephi-Lehi's not only laid down weapons that were to be used against their enemies, but also weapons against their God. 
• Pride violates the two great commandments. 
• It is impossible to be prideful if you are filled with charity. 
• Humility isn't thinking less of yourself, but less about yourself. 
• Pondering the scriptures means taking the time to think, pray, and invite revelation, after reading.
• We magnify our callings in the priesthood by letting the light of Christ shine through us and having the Spirit with us. 
• More important than the words we speak, is having the Holy Ghost with you as you minister to others. 
• Don't take detours because you may never find your way back to the right path. 
• Christ is for us, Satan against us, so it is our vote that counts. 
• Nowhere is mercy more manifest than in repentance. 
• Lehi and Joseph Smith's histories parallel each other. 
• We need both personal and priesthood lines of communication. 
• Being grateful unlocks the doors of heaven so we can feel Heavenly Father's love more fully.
• Receiving the Holy Ghost is not passive but a call to act. 
• Having an honorable name is better than riches.
• Satan is the ultimate counterfeit fisher of men. 
• We should ever be found doing the work of the Lord.

http://new.lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2010/10?lang=eng

ODE TO AUTUMN - JOHN KEATS

Steven Walker told me once that John Keats will be the Poet Laurette of the Celestial Kingdom.

Ode to Autumn

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness!

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;
To bend with apples the mossed cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o'erbrimmed their clammy cells.

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reaped furrow sound asleep,
Drowsed with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers;
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
Steady thy laden head across a brook;
Or by a cider-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings, hours by hours.

Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too, -
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing, and now with treble soft
The redbreast whistles from a garden-croft;
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies. 

-John Keats 1795-1821

THE WASTE LAND - T.S. ELIOT

T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land" is argued by some to be the greatest work of all modernist literature and is also one of my favorite poems. Despite the work's rigorous obscurity, allusions, and use of juxtaposition and satire, to me the poem's true strength is found in that of illustrating the struggle in finding meaning in a dramatically changed and unstable modern world, and Eliot's hinting that depending on the arts and great literature of the past presents some stability as the world continually ventures into an unforeseen future. Packed with allusions to many famous literary pieces and authors that I have grown to love (Shakespeare's The Tempest and Hamlet; Dante's Inferno; Virgil's The Aneid; Keats; Marvell; Dickens; Thomas Middleton; and St. Augustine) "The Waste Land" has also come to symbolize to me a representation of the creative force of imagination, history, and language, understood by some, and appreciated by few. Some of the symbols in the poem that stand out to me are rivers, the human psyche, regeneration of life, music, death, gender roles, great cities, myths/legends, and war. I too believe beauty is found in chaos, instability, and an underlying power, sometimes hard to see, and greater than ourselves. Time allows for the healing of great devastation. Despite the ever changing failures of modern society, peace is found in the words, symbols, and rhetoric of the past fabricating a lattice of hope for the imaginative power of the future - however grim or gloomy things may appear to be. A "peace which passeth understanding" is to be found in this feeble world, creating art in the face of madness.

APRIL is the cruellest month, breeding   
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing   
Memory and desire, stirring   
Dull roots with spring rain.   
Winter kept us warm, covering           
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding   
A little life with dried tubers....

...There is shadow under this red rock,   
(Come in under the shadow of this red rock),   
And I will show you something different from either   
Your shadow at morning striding behind you   
Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;   
I will show you fear in a handful of dust...     

...Unreal City,   
Under the brown fog of a winter dawn,   
A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many,   
I had not thought death had undone so many.   
Sighs, short and infrequent, were exhaled,   
And each man fixed his eyes before his feet...
                   
...THE river's tent is broken: the last fingers of leaf   
Clutch and sink into the wet bank. The wind   
Crosses the brown land, unheard. The nymphs are departed.   
Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song.   
The river bears no empty bottles, sandwich papers,   
Silk handkerchiefs, cardboard boxes, cigarette ends   
Or other testimony of summer nights. The nymphs are departed.   
And their friends, the loitering heirs of city directors;   
Departed, have left no addresses...

     ...The river sweats   
      Oil and tar   
      The barges drift   
      With the turning tide   
      Red sails   
      Wide   
      To leeward, swing on the heavy spar.   
      The barges wash   
      Drifting logs   
      Down Greenwich reach   
      Past the Isle of Dogs.   
            Weialala leia   
            Wallala leialal...

...O you who turn the wheel and look to windward,   
Consider Phlebas, who was once handsome and tall as you...                  

  ...And no rock   
  If there were rock   
  And also water   
  And water   
  A spring   
  A pool among the rock   
  If there were the sound of water only   
  Not the cicada   
  And dry grass singing   
  But sound of water over a rock   
  Where the hermit-thrush sings in the pine trees   
  Drip drop drip drop drop drop drop   
  But there is no water...

...Ganga was sunken, and the limp leaves   
Waited for rain, while the black clouds   
Gathered far distant, over Himavant.   
The jungle crouched, humped in silence.   
Then spoke the thunder   
D A   
Datta: what have we given?   
My friend, blood shaking my heart   
The awful daring of a moment's surrender   
Which an age of prudence can never retract   
By this, and this only, we have existed   
Which is not to be found in our obituaries   
Or in memories draped by the beneficent spider   
Or under seals broken by the lean solicitor   
In our empty rooms   
D A   
Dayadhvam: I have heard the key   
Turn in the door once and turn once only   
We think of the key, each in his prison   
Thinking of the key, each confirms a prison   
Only at nightfall, aetherial rumours   
Revive for a moment a broken Coriolanus   
D A   
Damyata: The boat responded   
Gaily, to the hand expert with sail and oar   
The sea was calm, your heart would have responded   
Gaily, when invited, beating obedient   
To controlling hands   

                      I sat upon the shore   
Fishing, with the arid plain behind me   
Shall I at least set my lands in order?   

London Bridge is falling down falling down falling down   

Poi s'ascose nel foco che gli affina   
Quando fiam ceu chelidon—O swallow swallow   
Le Prince d'Aquitaine à la tour abolie   
These fragments I have shored against my ruins   
Why then Ile fit you. Hieronymo's mad againe.   
Datta. Dayadhvam. Damyata.   

            Shantih shantih shantih

THE INNER LIFE OF THE CELL

The human body is amazing. I am fascinated by all the details, principles, and laws of science that are followed that make life possible. There are so many tiny pathways and processes that all work exactly and are kept in perfect balance. Its amazing what we have discovered and have been able to learn in science about our own bodies. In my physiology class we have started back at the beginning with the basic unit of life, the cell.

            http://www.studiodaily.com/main/technique/tprojects/6850.html

GREAT QUOTE - THEODORE ROOSEVELT

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actuallly strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least [he] fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”

-Theodore Roosevelt, “Citizen in a Republic” (address delivered at the Sorbonne, Paris, France, Apr. 23, 1910), Presidential Addresses and State Papers and European Addresses, December 8, 1908, to June 7, 1910, vol. 8 of Presidential Addresses and State Papers, Homeward Bound ed. (1910), 2191.

FUTURE DENTAL CLINIC SITE

Someday I am going to build a dental clinic here. People will trade me coconuts, fresh mangoes, and roasted pig for fillings, crowns, and extractions. Afternoons you'll find me at the beach adding to my shell collection, snorkeling with my children that speak Tongan and climb coconut trees. Nights reading next to a smoking umu drinking fresh otai. Saturdays at Teufaiva Stadium, watching rugby, and eating peanuts. Long weekends I will visit Ha'apai and Vava'u with my beautiful wife. And on Sundays I'll rest and grow wise.

SAVING SOUTHERN CROSSES

Looking up at a foreign sky between palm leaves,
I find a closeness I didn't imagine here.
My world has not moved, but I have literally turned myself upside down.
And not see the stars on the opposite side.
I hear the flatness of an island surrounded by coral.
I taste the smoke of an umu and
fall in love with a lazy Tongan Sunday afternoon. 
I smell green everywhere and a constant mist of the blowholes.
The repetition of the waves will continue when I'm gone.
I hear church choirs sing in harmonies not written in the book.
I learn food lasts today only and people are worth more than things.
A mother pig walks across the road
as I'm dodging potholes, learning to drive on the other side.
My fears of the future are smashed between two rugby players and
drowned with loud laughter.
I find new freedom and direction
hitch-hiking in the back of old trucks,
feeling the wind and real life.
Staring at a perfect sunset I find my humanity:
hoping to keep a moment forever - I know won't last outside my head much longer.
I've climbed higher than a coconut tree
and seen the depths of the blue ocean.

THE HOLY GHOST

I have thought a lot lately about what a wonderful gift the Holy Ghost is in our lives. As we are worthy, obedient, and doing our best to keep the commandments and do our Father's will, we are promised that the Holy Ghost, a member of the Godhead, will be with us through all that we do. What a comfort it is to know that we will never be left alone. We will always have The Spirit with us to help us make decisions, protect us from danger, and comfort us. 

I have tried this Summer to focus more on truly listening to the Spirit, finding quiet time to think about what Heavenly Father would have me do, and responding to those promptings. I have learned that the Holy Ghost can be as much involved in our lives as we let Him. As we follow promptings to serve and to act, our confidence in the Spirit, as well as our own ability to receive personal revelation both grow and we are able to receive further instruction. Interestingly we also learn humility in learning our need for depending on the Spirit and seeking what The Lord would have us do - instead of our own desires. It is humblingly to know how big a part of our lives The God of all the Universe wants to be in our individual lives. I have a long ways to go with learning to recognize and following the Spirit, but I know what Sister Beck said last conference is true,“The ability to qualify for, receive, and act on personal revelation is the single most important skill that can be acquired in this life.”

I'm grateful for the Gift of the Holy Ghost in my life and hope to show my gratitude by heading its promptings and learning to better receive and act on personal revelation.

For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter

in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all

things what ye should do. (2 Nephi 32:5)

Neither is man capable to make them known, for they

are only to be seen and understood by the power of the Holy

Spirit, which God bestows on those who love him, and purify

themselves before him. (Doctrine & Covenants 76:116)

For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit

of man which is in him? even so the things of God

knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. (1 Corinthians 2:11)

And whoso having faith you shall confirm in my church,

by the laying on of the hands, and I will bestow the gift of

the Holy Ghost upon them. (Doctrine & Covenants 33:15)

EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE - JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER

learning to face Truth

growing up

the inability of people to communicate

the desire we have as human beings to be more than physically close to others

the power of curiosity

the inexaustability of inventive thinking

cataloging of events and individuals

the problem of disconnect in family relationships

questions of emotions

the use of paper and writing to express ourselves

doing things backwards

what it means to be safe

wishing you could change the past

BELIEVE - JEFFERY R. HOLLAND

God is anxiously waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams, just as He always has. But He can't if you don't pray, and He can't if you don't dream. In short, He can't if you don't believe.

-Jeffery R. Holland