"There was power in that pointing finger"

Elder Rasband and his wife, Melanie spoke in a devotional broadcast  on Sunday, January 9, 2022. In her talk, Sister Rasband shared the following story about when President Nelson pointed at her when  she arrived late to a meeting. 

There was an article written about it on LDSLiving. 

Here is the excerpt from her talk that was shared in the article.

Years ago, when President Nelson was president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Elder and Sister Rasband attended an annual mission leadership seminar in Provo. Sister Rasband was scheduled to attend a meeting with the mission presidents’ wives, and for whatever reason, she arrived late.

“The room was full of our devoted sisters,” Sister Rasband says. “I stepped in near the back of the room, looking for a seat I could slip into.”

But as she was looking for a seat near the back, eye caught the eye of President Nelson, who was seated on the stand.

“He smiled. I smiled back, despite my embarrassment for being late,” Sister Rasband says. Then President Nelson held her gaze as he motioned with his finger for her to come take a seat on the front row. Not wanting to draw attention to her late arrival, Sister Rasband indicated that maybe instead she could stay and sit near the back. But President Nelson continued to smile and again beckoned for her to come and take the front-row seat that had been reserved with her name on it.

“There was power in that pointing finger,” Sister Rasband said.

So she smiled back, took a deep breath, and “walked the long walk” to the seat awaiting her on the front row. After the meeting, Sister Rasband bolted from her seat to try to catch President Nelson and ask forgiveness for not responding to his request the first time. His response was to again smile and lovingly say, “Thank you for being obedient.”

“The Son of God has also invited each one of us to come unto Him to step up and be like Him. The Lord taught, lifted, blessed, forgave, and loved, ministering one by one like President Nelson did for me. Like we can do for others,” she said.

Did you catch that last sentence? ....

The Lord taught, lifted, blessed, forgave,

and loved, ministering one by one

like President Nelson..

It might just be me... but I think that sentence has it backwards. That word order puts Nelson as the example being followed by the Lord. It should read...President Nelson ministered like the Lord. Have we started to elevated President Nelson over Jesus Christ in saying that the Lord is like President Nelson?

A Bigger Problem than a COVID Variant? - and a Public Service Announcement #2

The following is an excerpt of an interview by the original inventor of the mRNA and DNA vaccines:

https://youtu.be/mkDIirOwzgA

transcript of the above excerpt from the interview

Mass Formation Psychosis. 

When you have a society that has become decoupled from each other and has free-floating anxiety in a sense that things don't make sense, we can't understand it. And then their attention gets focused by a leader or series of events on one small point just like hypnosis. They literally become hypnotized and can be led anywhere. And one of the aspects of that phenomena is the people that they identify as their leaders, the ones typically that come in and say you have this pain and I can solve it for you...I, and I alone, can fix this problem for you. Then they will lead, they will follow that person through h.. It doesn't matter whether they lie to them or whatever.  The data are irrelevant.  And furthermore, anybody who questions that narrative is to be immediately attacked.  They are the other.  This is central to mass formation psychosis and this is what has happened. We had all those conditions.  If you remember back before 2019, everybody was complaining the world doesn't make sense, blah, blah, blah.. and we're all isolated from each other. We're all on our little tools [phones].  We're not connected socially anymore except through social media and then this thing happened and everybody focused on it.  That is how mass formation psychosis happens and that is what's happened here.  

Now there's ways to get out of it.

 

Matthias's recommendation is you got to get people to realize that what we've got is a situation of global totalitarianism. In his experience in Europe, making people realize there's a bigger threat than the virus can cause a separation psychologically in this fusion this hypnosis that has happened. The problem is then you're just substituting a bigger boogeyman from the current one and somebody else can come in and manipulate that. The real problem, and it gets back to your core point, we're sick as a society and we have to heal ourselves. And one of the things we have to do is come together. We have to recreate our social bonds. We have to buy into integrity, the importance of human dignity, and the importance of community. That's how we get out of this. And I think that this insight of Matthias Desmond is really central to kind of making sense of all of this crazy. We got a world in which the Press is incentivized to push a storyline because they're all controlled by the same large funds that Pfizer is and so is Tech. I don't know how we're going to get out of it but it's got to start with us, all of us, finding common ground.

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Public Service Announcement #2

written by my friend who is medical doctor      

On average a person with the seasonal flu infects 1-2 other people, COVID-19 roughly 2- 2.5 people and Delta variant 6-7 persons. The new Omicron variant is higher, perhaps as high as 10. It is likely to spread through the population over the next two months, hence the timing for this posting.

6 months ago I wrote a small piece on Ivermectin that was posted on this blog as a Public Service Announcement.  I have subsequently learned a good deal more about early outpatient treatment of viral illnesses including COVID-19 and its variants that I’d like to share. Rather than delay the information by taking the time to give footnote references, I’ll give a list of sources for those interested in doing their own research.

Bullet point summary of early treatment measures.

• Nasal spray with a virucidal agent twice a day if exposed to the virus or if you develop early symptoms. High risk individuals may benefit from a more frequent flush every 4 hours. These flushes include dilute povidine 1.5% (8 0z. available at Walmart in a 10% concentration for $15.50 or 3 oz. of 5% concentration in a nasal spray for $10, a 1.5% solution is available in a nasal spray as Viraldine at a rather higher cost).

• OR dilute 3% hydrogen peroxide. [1] [2]

• Throat gargle twice a day with either of the same solutions at the first sign of a sore throat.

• Many sources recommend Vit D (1000 iU/day or more, Vit C 1000 mg/day, & Zinc 8-11 mg/day depending on weight. (Costco sells a “Super C Immune complex with Vitamins A, C, D, E and Zinc in roughly these doses).

• Zinc ionophores including quercitin (an over-the-counter anti-oxidant derived from apples peels), hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin (both prescription medications with a long safety record but under attack by many in positions of authority and therefore somewhat hard to get) can get the zinc into the cells infected with viruses (not just COVID-19) and prevent their replication. [3] even in more severe later hospitalized patients. At this point I have not heard the relative efficacy of these ionophores.

Hope this helps. Stay healthy.

McKay Platt, M.D., 

not an infectious disease specialist

------------------------------

[1] Good sources including Dr. Peter McCullough, Dr. Vladamir Zelenko, and FLCCC (covid19criticalcare.com)

[2] British Medical Journal 2020:368 public. Date March 2020

[3] Zinc sulfate in combination with a zinc ionophore may improve outcomes in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, J Med Microbiol 2020 Oct.

BEGINNING A NEW YEAR

Tomorrow begins a New Year! I am looking forward to what 2022 has in store.  If there is anything that gives me hope for the upcoming year, is to hike with the next generation who are willing to wake up in the middle of the night and  hike in the snow in sub degree weather to see the sunrise. Here are a few photos from our hike last week. 

Starting tomorrow a large group of youth is planning on fasting to overcome the challenges that are ahead of us. A fast is a way for people to band together as a people and become one.  

Here is their invitation: 

The youth have decided to fast, and would love for everyone to join us. We have decided to fast for the Lord's guidance in our efforts to do his work. For the entire month of January, choose a fast that will challenge you individually (examples could be social media, sugar, tv, etc.. these are a few ideas, but we don't want to limit your decision. Let the spirit guide your choice). We invite you to join us in becoming united as a people of one heart and one mind. 

And it came to pass that they journeyed many days in the wilderness, and they fasted much and prayed much that the Lord would grant unto them a portion of his spirit to go with them and abide with them, that they might be an instrument in the hands of God...  

(RE Alma 12:2)

Sidenote: 

A friend of mine sent me a link to a sermon given last week by Pope Francis. I thought there were some excellent things he said. Here is one excerpt: 

“The humble are those who are concerned not simply with the past but also with the future, since they know how to look ahead, to spread their branches, remembering the past with gratitude,” Francis told them. “The proud, on the other hand, simply repeat, grow rigid and enclose themselves in that repetition, feeling certain about what they know and fearful of anything new because they cannot control it.”

When President Nelson says "GOOD JOB" to his wife and it becomes a top Church News story.

 A few weeks ago the Church News featured an article entitled  'How 2 words from the Prophet to his wife touched a missionary - and me.' It describes how inspirational it was for people in attendance to hear President Nelson say "Good Job" to his wife.  

Here is an excerpt from The Church News story that appeared on the back cover.

"The missionary also wrote about inviting friend of the Church to hear the Prophet speak. And the missionary wrote about the joy he felt when a young man walked miles to participate in the meeting. 

It was, however, another observation by the missionary that struck me. He noticed and wrote home about being touched as he heard President Nelson whisper "good job" to Sister Nelson after she spoke. 

The brief, tender exchanged - as they passes between their seats and the pulpit - was a sweet acknowledgment of her effort and his gratitude. For one second - the second before he would speak - he directed attention away from himself to her.

For the missionary, the moment was a sermon between the sermons.

It is hard to describe what that meant. It was the sweetest "good job" any one of us could have imagined. " 

 I look forward to reading the next article written when President Nelson says "THANK YOU" to his wife.

  

DEMOLITION DAY - more sacred LDS Buildings to be torn down.

 

Last week over the Thanksgiving holiday, the Church demolished one of my favorite buildings on Temple Square, the North Visitors Center. It was built over a half a century ago. My family would go down there often to see the larger than life murals depicting scenes from the scriptures. The best was the spiral ascension walk up into the heavens to see the statue of Christ with his outstretched arms. I have great memories at Christmas when we would into this building to see the movie, Mr. Krueger's Christmas, and get warm from seeing the Christmas lights. 

It is now gone. Demolished. Only to be a fading memory. I took one last photo of the building before the wrecking crew came in last week. 

Here are some photos to remember what  the building used to be like:

I will also miss standing outside the visitors center and seeing the life sized Nativity Scene that was lit up in lights with the Christus statue visible through the glass. It was almost as if the Lord was looking down at the presentation of His birth.

This is how Temple Square looks today. You can see the demolition of the North Visitor Center in the bottom right of the photo, a historical building that was built over a half a century ago. Not only will I miss the building but also all the trees that have been cut down. Temple Square will never be the same for me.

Sidenote:

Another building on the chopping block that is slated to be torn down is the Provo Temple. I remember going to this temple frequently when I was at the MTC as well as when I went to BYU after my mission. It will be completely demolished and instead an entirely new temple will replace it.

The Church will build a new Provo Temple in it's place with a new design. The spire will no longer feature a statue of the Angel Moroni. I am reminded of what President Boyd K. Packer said in one of his talk, "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without." I am not sure why we need to replace this temple just for the sake of making it match the other current temples that are being built. 

Efficacy of Salt Lake Temple Dedicatory Prayer?

 Here is an excerpt from the Salt Lake Temple Dedicatory Prayer given on April 6, 1893 by Wilford Woodruff. 

"Preserve these buildings, we beseech Thee, from injury or destruction by flood or fire; from the rage of the elements, the shafts of the vivid lightning, the overwhelming blasts of the hurricane, the flames of consuming fire, and the upheavals of the earth-quake, O Lord, protect them."

 Do we no longer believe in the efficacy of our dedicatory prayers for our Temples? Have we found evidence that the Lord is not preserving our temples and so we need to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to solve the problems of cracks in the foundations? flooding? lightning strikes and fires? 

• Flood Damaged Temple
• Fire Damaged Temples
• Lightning Strikes on Temple

Here are a few photos I took of what the Salt Lake Temple looks like today and the new foundation the Church is installing.

Sidenote:

Just in case you want to go down to Temple Square  this holiday season, the Church just released this statement: https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/christmas-temple-square-2021

"Attendees at any events on Temple Square are required to wear masks and be vaccinated if in the eligible age categories."

So the list continues to grow. The Church/First Presidency has set forth these "vaccination" mandates thus far -

* ALL people attending ANY events on Temple Square are required to be "vaccinated".
* ALL members of the Tabernacle Choir are required to be "vaccinated".
* ALL stake patriarchs and their wives are required to be "vaccinated".
* ALL missionaries entering any of the MTC's are required to be "vaccinated".
* ALL missionaries going on foreign missions (regardless of the country they are going to) are required to be "vaccinated".

I would not be surprised in the near future for those wanting to attend the Temple (including the youth doing baptisms for the dead) will be also required to be vaccinated. 

 

INDEPENDENCE FROM A FAILING SOCIETY

This week I had the opportunity to spend some time on Antelope Island. It really is like going to another world, a perfect place to escape from modern civilization. It was a full Harvest moon that night. The Hunter's Moon always follows the Harvest Moon, and is named after the time of year when animals fatten up in preparation for the colder months ahead and hunting season is underway for hunters to stock up on meat for the winter. Later that night when the full moon was almost directly overhead, a bluish ring appeared around the moon. It lasted for about an hour. The photo below doesn't do the experience the justice. 

While hiking around on the island, I was able to see bison and wheat-like stalks, two symbols of the Hunter Moon and the Harvest Moon.

Right after I got home from Antelope Island I received an email from a friend to see if I would be willing to post a written document on this blog. I usually don't post requests public service announcement requests, since this blog is more of a personal diary than an outlet for advertising, but thought it was important to share what was asked. The document can be found HERE. 

I am always grateful for those who use their time and talents for the benefit of others.

Here is a closing quote:   

"In our day of abundance, we are easily be misled into thinking that the blessings of our productive society permit us to be self-reliant. Of course that is only temporary. The principles upon which our society’s abundance are built have been discarded. Therefore, our “riches will become slippery” as the fruit of true principles vanish from those who dishonor the foundation upon which prosperity is conferred.

Safety in the coming scarcity of the last-days will only be found through Zion. Because the occupants of Zion will be one, they will follow two controlling principles which create the “self-sufficiency” of Zion.

First, the counterpart to the world (or Babylon as the scriptures have nicknamed the world) is Zion. Zion will require the laborer to labor only for Zion, not for themselves.

Second, we must perform the required great labor. We cannot expect to eat or be clothed in Zion if we do not work to produce the necessities of Zion."

 reference

Latest Official Proclamation (this one from the Federal Government)

Observing Indigenous Peoples' Day instead of Columbus Day.

Today is Columbus Day. However, President Biden on Friday issued a proclamation naming today, the 2nd Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples’ Day. This new holiday is being celebrated around the country instead of or in addition to Columbus Day. For almost a century, Columbus Day has been one of the 12 federal holidays established by Congress. The first recorded celebration of Columbus Day in the U.S. was on October 12, 1792. The day marked the 300th anniversary of Columbus' landing.

Instead of remembering Columbus, people across the country have defaced, decapitated and even removed statues of Christopher Columbus. 

Where is the outrage? As members of the Church, we read in our canonized scripture that Columbus was a man of God who was inspired by the Almighty to open up the pathway for people to come to the Americas. We read in the beginning pages of The Book of Mormon where Nephi tells us why Columbus sailed: “I beheld the Spirit of God, that it came down and wrought upon the man and he went forth upon the many waters. even unto the seed of my brethren, who were in the promised land.” 1 Nephi 13: 12.  

And while historians may debate his motives, we can read from Christopher Columbus's own writings why he did what he did:

"With a hand that could be felt, the Lord opened my mind to the fact that it would be possible to sail, and he opened my will to desire to accomplish the project. . . . This was the fire that burned within me. . . . Who can doubt that this fire was not merely mine, but also of the Holy Spirit . . . urging me to press forward?"

 Hugh Nibley observed, “Most of what is mysterious and contradictory in the story of Columbus comes from the refusal of the experts to believe what he tells them. They say he was an outrageous liar when he was actually telling the truth!"

While there are so many depressing and unsettling things happening in our world and especially in our country right now. I find one of the ways I can cope with everything going on is to spend time up in the mountain, especially now with the fall weather. The leaves up in the mountains this year have been some of the most spectacular displays of color that I can remember here in Utah. Here are a few photos from latest hike up Little Cottonwood Canyon. Enjoy before the snow comes.

LINK TO PREPARE

 

ATTRACTING THE WEALTHY TO BEAUTIFY AND REPLENISH THE TEMPLE AREA

Today the LDS Church released the latest news on their website announcing the completion of  huge real estate development around the Mesa Temple. News article found here. CLICK THE LINK

This latest real estate development is called The Grove on Main. Interesting they called it "The Grove".

The project includes 240 apartments, 12 townhomes, condominiums, and detached homes with 70,000 square feet of landscaped open space, ground floor retail space and underground parking. Some of the amenities include a palm tree lined pool and recreation center. Here are a few photos. 

The reasoning given for this huge real estate venture is to enhance the grounds around the Mesa Temple. From the aerial photo below of the project, it almost dwarfs the Temple. In fact, one would be hard pressed to find the Temple (hint: it is in the top center of the photo.)

So, here is an honest question that I would love to ask at the next Face to Face event with the Brethren.

Is this helping the poor and the homeless? Or does it seem that the LDS Church is becoming more of a real estate company building homes? Is providing shelter to the homeless include charging 2000 buck a month for a two bedroom apartment? 

I wonder if we are better landlords than good Samaritans. 

Church Newsroom Video: The downtown revitalization project for which The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints broke ground in 2018 is complete — and locals say it’s helping the city find its soul.

OH THE IRONY....HOW LDS MEMBERS FOLLOW THE PROPHET IN UTAH COUNTY

Photos published in the Salt Lake Tribune of BYU Football Game this past weekend in Provo, Utah.

62,000 people without masks, not socially distanced at the BYU Football Game

...10 hours later on

Reason for the contrast: Because the Prophet only said masks needed to be worn at Church. He didn't say anything about wearing them at the BYU football game. 

____________________________

Sidenote:.. One more thing that is also two faced. 

Some Utah Stakes now mandating wearing masks again at Church.

 Some Utah Stakes now mandating wearing masks again at Church. 

Video Announcement from a Stake President in Sandy, UT sent to members of his Stake sharing his frustration and disappointment towards who have not been vaccinated and blame them for the Delta variant surge. LINK HERE

“It is best for all of us to wear masks again while attending our Sunday worship services. We understand that returning to this mask requirement will frustrate many of you, especially those who have followed President Nelson’s council to get vaccinated and recognized this vaccination as an answer to our prayers."

"While we seriously considered requiring only unvaccinated adults to wear masks, we think unity in our stake and wards remains a critical ideal to seek and even though the data makes clear that this is now a pandemic of the unvaccinated, indeed more than 97 percent of the positive cases and hospitalizations are those of unvaccinated people in our communities."

"In all honesty, we are frustrated and disappointed as it seems the sure was completely preventable especially when our prayers of last year were answered with the vaccine rollout earlier this year. Nevertheless, we must join together and unite as brothers and sisters to do our part to end this pandemic and protect others during this surge including those who have chosen not to be vaccinated."

The First Presidency just released an email with a similar message:

Photoshopped Media Photos of LDS Church Leaders?

Social media pressures us to look our best when we post photos. Photoshopping pictures before posting them on a social media has become a common thing among teenagers and even celebrities. Phone apps have been created to easily make you look better than you really are. While this innocent action might seem like a simple wish to enhance a look and appear our very best....let's just call it what it is.. VANITY.

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VANITY

Excessive attention in or admiration of one's own appearance or attractiveness to others

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Some of the enhancements that people do to their appearance is to give themselves:

• Flawless and smooth skin
• Whiten teeth
• No more wrinkles or blemishes
• Removed age spots
• Contoured/adjusted facial features
• Enhanced eye color

While we might think this is just a fad with the self absorbed generation with cellphones, it might surprise you who else used photoshop techniques to improve their photograph portraits.

Bishop Gérald Caussé, presiding bishop of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. announced last week that our three-term Utah governor, Mike Leavitt will become the next president of The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square starting one Aug. 26. For the media announcement, the Church posted a newly taken 2021 photograph of Leavitt with photo copyright to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I was surprised at how much the promotional photographed had been photoshopped. No wrinkles, no sagging under the chin, no age spots. Here is the link to news story where the photo was published.  LINK HERE

If there is any doubt that the photo has been altered by the Church, here is side by side comparison with a photo that was taken of Mike Leavitt many years ago. LINK HERE. The photo on the right was taken no sooner than in 2017. The photo on the left was just recently taken for the Church with obvious techniques to make him look younger and better. (or at the very least, heavy amounts of makeup) Some might even say that it almost doesn't even look like the same man. 

 Last year I was surprised to see Church released photos of President Nelson where he too looked like he has some photoshop love with enhancing the color of his eyes to be more blue to maybe match his suit a little more. See below. 

Here are some video still images of President Nelson's eyes before he became the President of the Church with the new and improved blue eye color that we see. It might be that he now just has new colored contacts. 

I realize that this might be just a small thing, but I think this something interesting to point out and wonder why we feel we need to enhance reality and/or remove our blemishes and flaws.