GIVING THANKS, and the Four Things You Must Never Do

“Whatever is good in any circumstances we must thank Him for; whatever is hard we must accept as His will and try to learn from.”

On the eve of Thanksgiving, I wanted to share a quick thought.

Thanksgiving isn't just for "counting your blessings" and being grateful for all of the good things in our life. Real gratitude is not selective. Thank God for the bitter things as well as the sweet. The grateful person thanks God for everything that comes from His hand, because everything (even the painful) is being used for our eternal good and His glory. So this year, I’m learning to say thank You for both the feast and the famine, the laughter and the tears, the triumphs and the failures, and the joy and the pain.

Sidenote: I wanted to share the lyrics to song I heard on the radio as I was driving into work this morning:

Selected Lyrics from the song: "I Need You" by Jet Trouble

God, please help remind me of the things I cannot see
When I'm broken down, defeated, believing lies from the enemy
God, please help remind me of the day death lost its sting
That I know You have a plan in the midst of suffering
I need You to make things whole
I've been lost, Lord, search my soul
I need You to be so close
I felt numb and can't take much more

I've witnessed things I can't explain
I know He's good, He's never changed
But life is hard and full of pain
Come and do work in me, come and do work
Speak life to the broken things

_______________________________________________________



Sidenote:

This past week, a close friend of mine led a lesson/discussion. I wasn’t able to attend, but he sent me the handout. It contained a lot of quotes that I think are very important that I need to remember in my own life. The topic was “Covenant Christian Conduct.” Here are a few of them:

Four Things You Must Never Do

“There are four things you must never do. Joseph Smith separately discusses four things. The first, of course, is “to aspire.” Satan aspired, and that was his undoing. Never aspire and never be ambitious. You don’t aspire in this world if you’re going to get anything you want in the next. Never accuse. Of course, Satan is “the accuser.” The word diabolus from which the name devil comes means accuser. He is called “the accuser of his brethren” in the scriptures. Adam said to Satan, “I will not bring a railing accusation against thee. Let God judge between me and thee.” Adam would not accuse Satan after what Satan had done to him, you see. So we don’t accuse anybody, no matter how guilty they are. Then you do not contend. The first thing the Lord says to the Nephites is there shall be no more contentions among you as there have been. This is my gospel that there shall be no contentions. All contention shall cease, for contention is not of me, but all contention is of the devil who stirreth up the children of men to anger to bloodshed and things like that [paraphrased]. So we never contend and never coerce, if that’s the case. And those are the four things that everybody wants to do today. Everybody is aspiring to high office, and everybody accuses in order to get it. Everybody contends; it’s a very contentious world we live in, a competitive world. And we back it all up in the end; the bottom line is force. We have to have the force, coercion. We have all four things.” Hugh Nibley (1993), Teachings of the Book of Mormon: Semester 1; Lecture 21: 2 Nephi 25–28 - Nephi’s Prophecy of Our Times.


“There are a few absolute and categorical ‘Thou shalt nots’ in the scriptures which we are far from taking to heart. We have been told that under no circumstances are we to contend, accuse, coerce, aspire, or flatter. These practices will be readily recognized as standard procedure in getting to the top in our modern competitive society. What all of them have in common is a feeling of self-righteousness.” Hugh Nibley (1974), Brigham Young and the Enemy, 2:7.

FORGIVENESS IS TO ABANDON ALL HOPE OF A BETTER PAST

Photos taken on a hike to the top of Sunset Peak in Big Cottonwood Canyon.

  The view from Sunset Peak of the backside of Mount Timpanogos. 

"Forgiveness is giving up all hope of a better past."

Jerry Jampolsky, 

author of Love Is Letting Go Of Fear

Forgiveness is an acknowledgment that what has happened is permanent and cannot be undone, no matter how unfair it was.

Forgiveness is letting go of control. When you forgive, you release the hope or expectation that the past could have unfolded differently, which in turn releases you from being confined or controlled by past events.

Forgiveness focuses on the future: By no longer dwelling on the past or being consumed by anger, you create space for healing and building a new path forward.

There are things that have happened in the past that we wish were different. We wish we could fix it or that somebody would have said or done something differently. The reality is, we cannot change the past. All we can do is learn to accept it and to forgive what didn’t measure up to our expectations.

“Christ taught that there is atoning power in forgiving others. As a result of the things He suffered, He understood that men must forgive others in order to be able to obtain forgiveness. There are many things men do in which they lack the capacity to make amends. The price they must pay for their own transgressions is paid by forgiving all others of their offenses"  DS, Come Let Us Adore Him

FACING THE STORM... like a buffalo

A few weeks ago, on October 11, 2025, I went hiking up into the mountains in Big Cottonwood Canyon on a late Friday afternoon. The goal was to summit to see the sunset and then hike down the mountain before dark. We reached the top, which is well above 10,000 feet, and enjoyed the views but missed the sunset due to the clouds, though we could see the last bit of sunrays. Dark clouds began to quickly rush in toward us. The storm came barreling in so fast that we were enveloped in the clouds. It began to thunder and lightning. It started to rain, hail, and then a full blizzard. Complete whiteout.
We were dressed for the cold and had brought food and water. With a strong headlamp, we faced the storm and were able to make it back to the truck and arrive home safely.
On the same day, a young Utah father took his three young children—an 8-year-old daughter, 4-year-old son Ezra, and 2-year-old son—hiking up Big Cottonwood Canyon too. They also got caught in this sudden winter storm with torrential rain, snow, and freezing winds that stranded them overnight on the mountain. The father shielded his kids with his body through the sub-zero night, sacrificing his own warmth to keep them alive. Rescuers airlifted the family the next morning. They all were hospitalized for extreme hypothermia and frostbite, but survived.

Here are few photos I took from the hike.

The reason for this post: 

When a storm approaches, cows try to run away from it. I wonder if that is were the word coward come from. Since they’re slower than the wind-driven storm, they end up prolonging their exposure—running with the storm means they get wet, cold, and miserable for longer. 

Buffalo charge directly into the storm. They face the storm head-on. By facing it directly, they pass through the worst of it faster, minimizing the time spent in harsh conditions.

Buffalos don’t seek storms or create them—they just know how to weather them.

Head First into the Storm photo taken by Chris Irwin

Life is full of storms—unexpected challenges, overwhelming obstacles, and difficult periods that test our resolve. When it comes to handling life’s inevitable storms, our approach can make all the difference. How we handle these storms matter. I want to be more like a buffalo and less like a cow. 

Accept life’s injustices gracefully

Photo taken last week of the Sunrise coming up over the Wasatch Mountains.

"And behold, it is written, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth; 

but I say unto you that ye shall not resist evil, 

but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, 

turn to him the other also." 

3 Nephi 12:38

A close friend of mine shared some insight on this verse: 

"When Jesus said that when you are smitten on your right cheek, turn and give your left cheek to be smitten as well—that is not a peace-making act. That is an act of defiance. In first century Judea, a slap to the face was an act of public humiliation. It was a technique to enforce superiority. Romans would do it to Hebrews, masters would do it to slaves. This is not an act meant to injure. Instead, it is a public display of superiority. 

When Jesus says to offer your left cheek, that is an act of rebellion. That is not a passive, peaceful act. You are saying to your master or abuser, “hit me again because I recognize a higher power than you.”

That same verse is written like this in the Covenant of Christ, a modern English version of the Book of Mormon. Here is another beautiful insights to that verse:

"Accept life’s injustices gracefully,

 and when someone hits your right cheek, 

turn to him the other also."

3 NEPHI 5: 26 CoC

Our world would be a better place if all of us tried to live by the principles found in this Sermon. I am trying to at least take one verse at a time to apply it in my life until I am ready to move on to the next one.
_______________________


Sidenote:

I received the following advice this past weekend.

"I think it would be wonderful for you to write a blog post about why you continue attending church as an active member, even though you disagree with some things that happen there. That could genuinely help others who are wrestling with similar questions. I agree there’s much that’s good in the church — my daughters, for example, love girls’ camp and the youth programs, even though they haven't been baptized into the LDS Church."

 I hope you’ll consider putting your name to your words on your blog. You have many good things to say, and standing behind them would be a powerful example. If you truly aren’t afraid of being known by your congregation, perhaps allowing them to discover your writing naturally — with your name and face behind the words — could open the door for honest conversation when they’re ready."

This is me, David Christenson,  taking this advice to heart. I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I enjoy waking up early in the morning to reach a mountain summit to see the sunrise. If you have been a reader of this blog, I try to be balanced in what I write, from posting photos from my hikes to things that I see happening in my religion that I was raised in.  My mom is my biggest fan and supporter of my blog. She is my main audience who I write for. We discuss a lot of my posts. On occasion, she has asked that I edit some of what I write.  I appreciate her insight. She is currently serving as a temple worker. We both miss my dad who passed away last year.