Two Wolves

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.
He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all.

"One is Evil -  It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

"The other is Good -  It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

LDS Church and Nondiscrimination Ordinances

I found this article on the Newsroom Web site of The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints. I thought you might find it interesting.
Click on the link below to view:

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/church-supports-nondiscrimination-ordinances

Meeting Your Goliath

“The battle for our souls is no less important that the battle fought by David. The enemy is no less formidable, the help of Almighty God no farther away. What will our action be? Like David of old, ‘our cause is just.’ We have been placed upon earth not to fail or fall victim to temptation’s snare, but rather to succeed. Our giant, our Goliath, must be conquered.”

Thomas S. Monson, “Meeting Your Goliath,” New Era, June 2008, 5

You could have heard a pin drop

At a time when our president and other politicians tend to apologize for our country's prior actions, here is a refresher on how some of our former patriots handled negative comments about our country.

These are Good

 
JFK'S Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, was in France in the early 60's when DeGaule decided to pull out of NATO.  DeGaule said  he wanted all US military out of France as soon as possible. 
 
Rusk responded "does that include those who are buried here?"

  
DeGuale did not respond.

**************************************************  
When in England , at a  fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury if  our plans for Iraq were just an example of empire building by George Bush.

He answered by saying, 'Over the years, the United States  has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight  for freedom beyond our borders.  The only amount of land we have  ever asked for in return is enough to bury those that did not return.' 

 ************************************************** 

There was a conference in France where a number of  international engineers were taking part, including French and  American.  During a break, one of the French engineers came back into the room saying 'Have you heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has  done? He has sent an aircraft carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami  victims.  What does he intended to do, bomb them?'

 
A Boeing engineer stood up  and replied quietly: 'Our carriers have three hospitals on board that  can treat several hundred people; they are nuclear powered and can supply emergency  electrical power to shore facilities; they have  three  cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000 people three  meals a day, they can produce several hundred thousand gallons of fresh  water from sea water each day, and they carry half a dozen helicopters  for use in transporting victims and injured to and from their flight  deck.  We have eleven such ships; how many does France have?'

 

 ************************************************* 

 
A U.S. Navy Admiral was  attending a naval conference that included Admirals from the U.S. ,  English, Canadian, Australian and French Navies.  At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large group  of Officers that included personnel from most of those countries.  Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks but a French admiral suddenly complained that, whereas Europeans learn many  languages, Americans learn only English. He then asked, 'Why is it that  we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than  speaking French?'

 
Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied, 'Maybe  it's because the Brit's, Canadians, Aussie's and Americans arranged it  so you wouldn't have to speak German.'

 ***************************************************** 

AND THIS STORY FITS RIGHT IN WITH THE ABOVE...

Robert Whiting , an elderly gentleman of 83, arrived in  Paris by plane. At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his  passport in his carry on.

"You have been to France before, monsieur?" the  customs officer asked  sarcastically.

Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France   previously.

"Then you should know enough to have your passport  ready."

The American said, 'The last time I was here, I didn't  have to show it."

"Impossible. Americans always have to show your  passports on arrival in France !"

The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard   look.  Then he quietly explained, ''Well, when I came ashore  at Omaha Beach on D-Day in 1944 to help  liberate this country, I couldn't find a single Frenchmen to show a passport to."

************************************************* 

 

I am proud to be of this land, AMERICA

What We Learned at Conference

Thank you for forwarding this, Varna

I thought this was very interesting. I had not noted things so specifically...I am going to start reveiwing the talks. Hope you will, too.

 

 Varna

---

 

This was interesting.  After the first two talks of conference, I thought the same thing as Mr. Lawrence!     

Latter-day Preparations: What We Learned at Conference  Latter-day Preparations: What We Learned at Conference By Gary C. Lawrence  Meridian Magazine   Remember (past) General Conferences when we were told to grow gardens, put in a supply of food, prepare 72-hour kits, get out of debt, and put our houses in order by preparing every needful thing?   The Church's instructions on provident living still stand, of course, and there are wonderful resources available to help us. But when was the last time such counsel received significant attention in General Conference?   As best I can recall, there was a turning point when President Hinckley, after an extensive sermon in a priesthood session on financial preparations, said, "Now that's all I'm going to say about that." It may have been the last time he mentioned physical preparations in a General Conference address.    During the five sessions of conference just completed, I attempted to write down every admonition, instruction, exhortation, suggestion or recommendation given by the speakers. I collected 430 items of counsel in all, but. No one talked about food storage No one advised putting together emergency kits No one exhorted us to get out of debt No one said to grow a garden There were only three references to financial matters (Elder Watson, Bishop Burton and Elder Christofferson) and all of them were warnings against excesses and greed, not about preparations. Many sense that things could soon break loose - that it wouldn't take much to put many prophesied events about the last days into motion. At this time of turmoil throughout the world, a roller coaster economy, crime, thugocracies, natural disasters, looming inflation and even nuclear threats, it would seem a natural time for our leaders to talk about nuts-and-bolts preparation - to tell us what we should do next.  Well, they did. But not in a direction some may have expected. (And the rumor du jour, that the call-out of Israel to flee to its tents was imminent, failed again - surprise, surprise.)   We've been hearing about food storage and other preparations since 1936. The way I see the talks this conference, those days are over. Members who haven't prepared physically are not very likely to start now simply because two or three more General Authorities plead with them.   This is not to suggest we'll never hear counsel about physical preparations again in General Conference, but rather it appears the emphasis is shifting from physical preparation to spiritual preparation - to build strength of heart, mind and spirit for whatever is coming, and especially to become more proficient at receiving personal revelation.    Those who watched conference hoping for a fish found that they instead were instructed how to fish. Of the 29 individuals who addressed us, 16 of them spoke about the Holy Ghost - how we can cultivate the gift of the Holy Ghost, how to improve our sensitivity to promptings, how to purify our lives so we can hear gentle spiritual communications, and related counsel - in other words, how we can gain personal instruction to guide us through coming events from the Source that knows everything. In speaking order: Elder Scott: Consistently strive to recognize and follow the feelings prompted by the Spirit. Sister Matsumori: Help others become more familiar with promptings of the Spirit. Elder Clayton: Be humble so you can hear the word of the Lord. President Uchtdorf: Listen for the Father's voice for it leads to the ministration of the Holy Spirit. Elder Oaks: Listen and feel of God's love. Elder Hales: Yield to the influence of the Holy Ghost. Elder Watson: Be temperate in all things as guided by the Holy Ghost. Elder Anderson: Turn away from pride, anger and impure thoughts. President Packer: The Holy Ghost communicates to our spirit with promptings and impressions.  President Eyring: Learn to follow inspiration.  President Monson: Refrain from anger so you will have the Spirit with you. Elder Perry: Listen to the Spirit for guidance. Bishop Burton: Let virtue garnish your thoughts. Sister Dibb: Use the safety equipment of scriptures, prophets, and the Holy Ghost. Elder Nelson: Cultivate spiritual discernment. Elder Ringwood: Be sensitive to the Holy Ghost.   The emphasis on these basic principles suggests that we haven't been following them as we should. Which brings to mind the well-known story of Vince Lombardi, legendary coach of the Green Bay Packers. Every season, even after the Packers had won two Super Bowls, Lombardi would address his players and start with the basics: "Gentlemen, this is a football." (And Max McGee, the team's star receiver who scored the first touchdown in Super Bowl history, would say, "Not so fast, coach, not so fast.")   There wasn't a player who didn't already know what Lombardi would say - blocking, tackling, mental alertness. But he said it over and over because they fell short on execution. Our leaders are obviously telling us it's time to execute the basics better and bulk up our spiritual preparations to match whatever we've prepared for our physical survival.   Having a house full of wheat, beans and rice will be insufficient if we are not strong in spirit and mind as we face prophesied events.