Saplings and Sunflowers

Photo by Juan Mendez from Pexels Jeffrey R. Holland said that the commandment to "be of good cheer" is one of the least obeyed commandments in the scriptures.  Sometimes, Christian believers can give the impression that they were baptized in a bucket of lemon juice rather than in the pure, cleansing waters of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  We should be smiling saints - with all that God has given us we most certainly should be looking on the bright side of life.   This Easter season is a wonderful time to remember that the word Gospel means "good news!"   Imagine the state of the world when Jesus Christ came on the scene.  Believers in God were trying to navigate a complex series of laws and rules where there was no hope for forgiveness.  Rather, any hope for salvation hinged on perfect obedience to legalistic religious obligations.  As far as all people knew, this life was the end.  There was no sure doctrine teaching life after death ...

Here I am standing with relatives on the site of the original family dugout I was out running yesterday.  I am trying to train for a half marathon.  As I was running an elderly gentleman in a truck rolled down his window and said something like, "Are you from Alaska?"  I kind of laughed, thrown off by what he meant.  Then I looked around and realized that there was snow on the ground and my hands were  a bit numb.  I had been running in the cold and hadn't even noticed.  Immediately I felt rather proud - I was becoming "Minnesota Tough." I first heard this term on a trip to Minnesota this past year.  There I learned about my ancestors from Minnesota - Anton Anderson and Maren Lund.  I learned that they came from Norway in the 1800s and settled in Western Minnesota.  They started out in Minnesota in a little dugout.  They endured blizzards, grasshoppers and an extremely inhospitable climate.  The family eventually grew to eight ...