KeithLBrown

Excellent! Thanks for sharing this. A great way to start my day with a laugh and a smile.

I am a strong believer that regardless of what subject we are discussing we should always be ready, if asked, to give the sources of the information we are sharing. If, for example, the information that we are sharing is strictly our opinion, then why not make a statement such as "In my [humble] opinion. . ." At least by saying that, those to whom we are talking to or those who are reading what we have written will know immediately that what has been said is not necessarily fact, but indeed our opinion on the subject. We need to realize that though there may be some that will do their own homework to check the validity and credibility of what they hear or read, there are many others who take what they hear or read as absolute truth. This is exactly how a lot of rumors and misinformation get spread oftentimes causing unnecessary confusion, dissention, misunderstandings, and offenses. Here on LDS.Net and anywhere that we discuss the Church and its teachings, we need to be as accurate as possible in the information that we share. It should be, and indeed must be, our goal to first and foremost edify those who will partake of what has been said. We need to keep in mind that we are Christ's disciples [students] and when we speak about Him and His Church in particular, we are speaking on His behalf. He is indeed the author of truth and not the author of confusion. Certainly, no one is saying that we cannot have our opinions about things, but at the same time, people visiting our site need to understand that we should not and cannot allow anti-Mormon thought and doctrine to creep in and cause confusion and uproar among the masses. With that in mind, we have an obligation to stand a vigilant watch and be on guard for anything that speaks out against the Church, and in those cases, yes, I strongly support deleting said material at once. With that being said, may I make a humble suggestion? If we read something that is not blatantly obvious that it was written against the Church, but it still leaves questions in our minds as to what is meant by what is being said, why not give the individual that wrote it a chance to clarify what they have written and/or ask them straight forward to supply their references. That way, less people will tend to think that their comments and/or posts are being deleted simply because we do not agree with what they have said. The beauty of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is that the Church is perfect, the Saints are not. There are times when we will all disagree on things, but a large part of learning and growing is having to ability to not only know when to speak, but also knowing when to listen to what others have to say, and to listen with open hearts and open minds. Again, our goal Brothers and Sisters is to edify one another, not tear each other apart. I don't believe that being asked to supply our references/sources is asking a great deal of anyone. Even when I give talks in Sacrament meeting at Church, I always write out my talks in full and include all references. That way, if someone asks for a copy of my talk to read later, they have all of the sources of information that I used in the talk. Even if I share a story from my own life experiences or from another source, I make it a practice to state where the information came from. I have found in my experiences that one word taken out of context can give an entirely different meaning to a subject and thus become the root cause of unnecessary confusion and misunderstanding. At least if a person has a reference point it helps to alleviate a lot of the doubt and confusion that could otherwise be caused. This is just my two cents worth on the matter. Thank you for listening.

Excellent! Thanks for posting.

Hello and welcome to LDS.Net. We are glad to have you here. Please make yourself at home and please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are all here to help in any way that we can.

I am not sure what the problem could be, but if I remember correctly when I first installed Firefox I had similar problems and had to install some add ons specific to Firefox. You may want to visit the Firefox site and see what plug-ins are available for download for watching videos. Also, if you have Internet Explorer on your computer, try seeing if you can watch videos using that. Just some thoughts.

Pam it is an excellent book and one that I would recommend reading. There was also a movie made of the book which is also very good.

Thanks for sharing this. Very interesting to see the Church growth in this area of the world. I was stationed in Bahrain for about a year while I was in the Navy.

I hear you loud and clear Pam. Sometimes I feel like saying "If you don't want to hear the answer(s) that I will give, then don't bother to ask the question." It does become a bit frustrating sometimes when people only ask questions to try and get a rise out of you or start some type of stupid debate. Some already know my (our) perspective(s) on things and feel a need to always taunt us just so they can have another proverbial feather to stick in their cap as if they have accomplished some great thing by possibly getting us all stirred up. But, in all fairness, sometimes some of the things that we allow ourselves to get upset over are really not worth getting upset over. As my dear mother used to say, we have to choose which battles to fight and which ones to walk away from.

I believe that it is a great possibility, just as some of the things that the medical world is starting to "discover" are things that we have already been taught in the Word of Wisdom.

I try to post blogs that I feel are both informative and uplifting. I try to carefully consider what I should post and not just post something for the sake of posting as if there is some contest to see who can post the most blogs. My feelings are that blogs should say something of significance and give the reader something to think about and comment on. As far as making comments, again I try to think about what I might say that would be beneficial to the person who wrote the blog and to future readers. Personally, I think that posting comments just for the sake of posting comments detracts from the blog itself. I have seen some responses to blogs that take off on tangents that have absolutely NOTHING to do with the original blog and before long the whole intent of the original blog post is lost. My feelings are, if a person is going to post a response, they need to stay on point in order to ensure a smooth flow of thought that everyone can follow. There is no rule that anyone has to respond to every post that is made. Just my two cents.

I was born in 1958. My how the things have changed, and not all for the better. You are right. This is so on the mark! A truly sad commentary of our day.

It would help if you can remember at least part of the title of the talk. There are a lot of talks about the Savior including talks by Elder Packer.

January 17, 1836 Kirtland, Ohio. Joseph Smith performed three marriages to establish the Church’s right to marry by proclamation. Sources: History of the Church 2:376 January 17, 1843 Nauvoo, Illinois. At an overflowing public meeting at his home, Joseph Smith spoke at length on the kingdom of God and the manner of baptism performed by John the Baptist. Sources: Wilford Woodruff Journal v. 2 Jessee, BYU Studies 31.2

Thank you for sharing your wonderful story and beautiful testimony with us. God bless.

This article appears in the Saturday morning, 17 January 2009 edition of the Deseret News. (Deseret News | LDS Church leaders to attend Obama inauguration) President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the First Presidency, and Elder M. Russell Ballard, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, will represent the LDS Church at inaugural events for President-elect Barack Obama. President Thomas S. Monson asked the two leaders to represent The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the swearing-in ceremony on Jan. 20 and the National Prayer Service at Washington's National Cathedral on Jan. 21. "It is always an honor for the church to be represented at the inauguration of a new president," President Monson said. "We send our best wishes to President-elect Obama and pray for the blessings of a loving Father in Heaven to be upon him and his administration."

about January 16, 1838 Norton Township, Ohio. Fleeing mob violence in Ohio, Joseph Smith traveled to Dublin, Indiana, where he tarried nine days. He was then given $300 from the sale of Brother Nathan Tomlinson’s farm, which allowed him to continue his journey. Sources: History of the Church 3:2–3 January 16, 1834 Chardon, Ohio. Joseph Smith visited his sister Catherine’s husband, Wilkins Jenkins Salisbury, and spent the night. Sources: History of the Church 2:4 January 16, 1839 Liberty, Missouri. Joseph Smith wrote a letter to Heber C. Kimball and Brigham Young from Liberty Jail. Sources: Personal Writings of Joseph Smith, 423–25 January 16, 1841 Nauvoo, Illinois. Joseph Smith taught that men have power to resist the devil; he explained the consequences of murder; and he spoke on Adam, the priesthood, and several parables from the New Testament. Sources: Jan Shipps and John Welch, eds., The Journals of William E. McLellin, 516–17 January 16, 1844 Nauvoo, Illinois. Joseph Smith attended a city council meeting and forgave Francis M. Higbee for writing a slanderous letter on January 10. Sources: History of the Church 6:178

Welcome to the site and thank you for sharing this beautiful testimony with us.

Hello and welcome to the site.

Greetings and welcome to the site.

I can also only speak from personal experience and say that I know when my mother passed away at 59 years of age from breast cancer the hardest part for me was that I was in the military thousands of miles away in the country of Iceland and I could not be at her side as she quietly slipped away. I think that I was sad knowing that when I did return to the United States that my mother would not be there to greet me at the airport as usual and going to the house seemed strange not having her there. But, at the same time I had peace and comfort knowing that my mother was no longer suffering and that she was in a much better place. I long to see her again some day. As for my father who passed away in 2006, I think that I was probably more angry for a time than sad because of the way that he was found dead in a landfill area floating in water just days before the family was to be united for Thanksgiving. Not being able to know what really happened to him made my heart sink for a time, but again, I have the comfort of knowing that God knows all about the final events in my father's life and my father is now in a much better place as well. I long to see him again some day as well. Knowing that life does not end at the grave and that families are eternal, gives me blessed peace and comfort.

Even after my interview with the First Counselor of the Stake Presidency on Saturday morning, I do not think that reality truly set in until it was my turn to speak. As I looked into the faces of the congregation that I had served as a member of two Bishoprics for a collective 7 years, I was deeply touched and moved as I thanked them for their faith and testimonies. I also expressed the fact that I had been blessed to be both the teacher and a student and that in all fairness and honesty I had probably learned the most as a student as I was blessed to sit and talk with several of them one on one. I also expressed my thanks to them for their love, warmth, and smiles that I so desperately needed at times in my own personal life. I truly appreciate all of the comments that have been posted. I plan to enjoy some "down time" for the next few weeks (hopefully :-)). It will seem strange getting up on Sunday morning and not having to be at Church until 9:30am for Sacrament meeting. I will get to sit in the audience and I will also be able to attend a full Sunday School class and Priesthood meeting. With this release I am no longer over finances or the Bishopric representative for the Single Adults. So, being able to go home after the block and not having any meetings to attend for a while will also seem strange, but I am sure I can handle it. I know that before long I will be doing other work that will keep me quite busy and this is Heavenly Father's way of letting me rest and reflect for just a short while.

Today, Sunday, 4 January 2009 was a day of mixed emotions for me. I found myself to be both joyous and also a little sad. For you see, today our ward was reorganized and I was released as the First Counselor in the Bishopric. I felt joy because I know in my heart that I humbly served and strived to do those things which Heavenly Father would have expected me to do. There is no doubt that I made some mistakes along the way, but I did everything in a spirit of love, humility and gratitude. The Lord knows my heart and He truly knows of my love for the people of our ward. I also felt joy because now I will move on to do other work that the Father has planned for me to do in His vineyard. I view every calling that I have had up to this point as training and preparation for the things that are yet to come. Carefully reviewing the pages of my Patriarchal Blessing, I have been promised many great and wonderful things and added responsibilities in the Church if I remain faithful and true to the commandments of our Heavenly Father. At the same time I felt a little sad and even became a bit emotional as I bore my testimony because suddenly the reality of it all hit me and I realized that I would no longer serve my ward in this capacity. It is hard after serving in two Bishoprics to let go as it were and realize that the Lord has called someone new to the position, but I am reminded that the Lord has work for me to do in other parts of His vineyard and my being released after several years of faithful service is a necessary step in preparing me for the days ahead and the work that is to be done. As I mentioned in my testimony today, "I do not know what tomorrow may bring, but I can testify to you that I do know the One who holds all tomorrows. He alone knows the plan for my life that has already been set. I humbly pray that I will always like Nephi of old be willing to go and do those things which the Lord doth command." In Ecclesiates 3:1 we read, "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:" A season in my life has just ended and a new season has begun. I look forward to my next calling and serving wherever and in whatever capacity the Lord would have me to serve.

Happy New Year to one and all from Annapolis Maryland

My retirement pay does increase with the military pay rates that congress approves and that is also another blessing. I was never married and therefore I don't have any kids, so the whole experience of having "military brats" is foreign to me, although I knew quite a few. To me, I think it is all in what you make it for yourself as well as your family. If I had kids I would have done everything I could possibly do to have made the whole military experience as enjoyable and memorable as possible. I personally have no regrets in serving 20 years. There were some rough times, but I think all of the good times and memories outweigh any rough times that I amy have had. Health insurance is another subject. I recently got some mail from the military about a hospitalization plan at John Hopkins Hospital that I plan to look into. Also, now that I am 50, I am a member of that oh so infamous AARP Club and they offer some pretty decent health plans as well.

I am a 20 year retired United States Navy veteran. Making the decision to stay in the military and deal with all the problems and headaches that are associated with military life was not necessarily an easy one. I think that it really did not become an easy decision to make until after I had reached the 10 year mark and at that point I felt that if I had ran the course for that long, why not stick it out and finish the race. I do not regret serving my country for 20 long years. During those years I was blessed to meet some wonderful and interesting people, travel to lands that I probably would have never been able to travel to, and learned so many valuable life lessons that perhaps I could not have learned anywhere else. I will admit that returning to the civilian world after 20 years of military service was and continues to be quite a shock at times. I am now and have always been a hard charger -- a go getter. If there is something that needs to be done, I believe that you should get it done. I have a low tolerance for excuses as to why something can't be done. I am the type of person that wants to hear how we plan to get it done and get it done in a timely manner. I guess you can take the boy out of the military, but you can't take the military out of the boy. While in the Navy I got used to hearing "Hurry up and wait". That saying seems to take on a whole new meaning in the civilian world. I find that I sometimes get frustrated at work because I don't understand sometimes why I don't have reports, bills, documentation, etc. whenever I want or need it. Having to wait for something or for someone to get around to doing something sometimes frustrates me. I am the type of person that has an imaginary stamp on his desk that says "DONE!". You can imagine that I have been told many times that I am not in the military anymore and that things are done a "little" differently in the outside world. After being retired for 8 years I am getting a little better at coping with the civilian world. As far as the retirement pay, it is not all that great, but I am thankful to have it as it does pay my rent every month. Without it, I would probably have to work two jobs just to keep everything going. I am not sure what career field your wife is in, but I would definitely choose one that is comparable to the job market in the civilian world. I hope some of this makes sense and helps.