Sacrifice is Synomomous with Gratitude

When we sacrifice or give we show gratitude for that thing, i.e., a soldier that server our country show gratitude for the freedom we enjoy. A person who works as a volunteer at a shelter is showing gratitude for the food, clothes, and shelter they have.

Many people give advice because they are grateful for apiece of advice they once received. ( Some are busy bodies, too.)

There are those that consume constantly and complain about what they have been given, or it is never enough, they expect to be provided for.

I think of the story my mother-in-law tells when her family was on the verge of losing their home, President Roosevelt said that no WWI veteran should loose there home. They were help and arrangements were made so her father could keep his house. She expresses the gratitude she felt for this. She has spent her life trying to help others, I believe this is a sign of her gratitude for what she has, and how she has been blessed.

Seeking for Truth

When we seek for truth, from any source then God we will always be disappointed. Science constantly seeks for truth and the truth is constantly changing. Instead of looking to The source of truth, God, they seek after truth that comes from the "arm of flesh."

I believe that this is why Joseph Smith said,"I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct book on earth, ...., and a man would get nearer to God [Truth], then by abiding by its precepts, then by any other book." Because its writing is true it will teach us truth. It is correct because its source is God, who is truth. If you are wondering what you should do in your life, abiding by the teachings of the Book of Mormon will always put you in the right path.

Think about Lehi's vision of the tree of life. It talks about the people pressing forward catching hold of the rod of iron (the word of God). Those who let go were lost in the mist of darkness. Also, that harkened to those in the great and spacious building fell away. They ignored the source of truth, God.

As we move into more and more dangerous times if we seek for truth from science, philosophies of men, or political sources, we will be deceived. The only answer is to turn to God and apply His truths and we will see how to navigate in these perilous time.

Opinion:

Since when did we as country decide that if someone has a differing opinion or if someone's beliefs differ not only do we seek to humiliate, but destroy them. I look at what is happening in California with the prop 8, now, for the second time time, the people of California have said that they want a constitutional amendment to their state constitution defining marriage between a man and a woman. But, instead of accepting what the people have said, those that have apposed are seeking to intimidate and persecute those that voted for this initiative.

The same thing is being done to Sarah Palin, I am not arguing her qualifications here, but I am concerned about the effort to destroy her. Why is this? When did we change from a country of differing opinions to a country that can not tolerate any thought that is contrary?

It seems that we have damned ourselves, that is by crushing thought and opinion, we as a country can not grow. The feeling in the country is so contentious, it is moving from what is the best for the country to what minority do we have to appease. It seems like we have political parties to punish one group or the other.

If we do not pull together as a country, we are going to end up in a world of hurt. We need to hear the opinions of each other and not take any ownership.

In my primary class we talked about the Nephites and the period of time after Christ's visit. They lived with out contention or disputation. How did they do this? They did have correct principals which always helped, but they had when their society dissintegrated. The key as I see it is that once the contention returned and was allowed to grow they lost everything. How do you have a society of peace? My supposition has to do with onwership. It says that they had all things in common, and that there were not Nephites or Lamanites. I do not mean that it was a time when they weren't growing and discovering, but they were one in purpose. They had one goal and they all worked toward this. I am sure that opinions differed but no one owned that opinion and allowed rejection to anger them. When strife is eliminated then the things like murder and theft diappear. How do we acompilish this? How do we pull together?

I have been looking for a clear picture in how and who I should vote for. I am not convinced that McCain is the right person and I have not been clear about Barak Obama. Today though it has been made clear to me that at least one person is absolutely wrong for this country. This is Barak in his own words, this is clear to me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iivL4c_3pck

Here is a piece of the conversion written out:

VOICE: And you are joined by Barack Obama who is Illinois senator from the 13th district and a senior lecturer from the University of Chicago.

OBAMA: "You know, if you look at the victories and failures of the civil rights movements and its litigation strategy in the court, I think where it succeeded was to vest formal rights in previously dispossessed peoples so that I would now have the right to vote, I would now be able to sit at the lunch counter and order and as long as I could pay for it, I'd be okay, but the Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth and more basic issues of political and economic justice in this society. And to that extent, as radical as I think people try to characterize the Warren court, it wasn't that radical. It didn't break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the founding fathers in the Constitution, at least as it's been interpreted and Warren interpreted it in the same way that generally is a charter of negative liberties. (I added the bolding.) Says what the federal government can't do to you but it doesn't say what the federal government or the state government must do on your behalf. And that hasn't shifted and one of the, I think the tragedies of the civil rights movement. Was because the civil rights movement became so court-focused, I think that there was a tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalitions of power through which you bring about redistributive change. And in some ways we still suffer from that."

He goes on from here and I am not going to transcribe it all because I am to slow. The tipping point for me is that Obama essentially says that the constitution is a negative document, that it says what the government can't do. So, it can't restrict freedom of speech, it can't take your guns away, and so forth. That the constitution should give power to the government to do things for us. This is fundamentally contrary to what the founding fathers have said, that it takes from a small government to an oppresive government. The government give us everything we need. This is a Satanic plan, it is what we fought against before me came to this earth. There is no chance of failure here, and without failure the plan of God is frustrated.

This is what the scriptures teach:

Doctrine and Covenants section 98:

5 And that ^alaw of the land which is ^bconstitutional, supporting that principle of freedom in maintaining rights and privileges, belongs to all mankind, and is justifiable before me.

6 Therefore, I, the Lord, justify you, and your brethren of my church, in befriending that law which is the ^aconstitutional law of the land;

7 And as pertaining to law of man, whatsoever is more or less than this, cometh of evil.

8 I, the Lord God, make you ^afree, therefore ye are free indeed; and the law also maketh you free.

9 Nevertheless, when the ^awicked ^brule the people mourn.

10 Wherefore, ^ahonest men and wise men should be sought for diligently, and good men and wise men ye should observe to uphold; otherwise whatsoever is less than these cometh of evil.

Also,

Doctrine and Covenants, section 101:

77 According to the laws and ^aconstitution of the people, which I have suffered to be established, and should be maintained for the ^brights and protection of all flesh, according to just and holy principles;

78 That every man may act in doctrine and principle pertaining to futurity, according to the moral ^aagency which I have given unto him, that every man may be ^baccountable for his own sins in the day of ^cjudgment.

79 Therefore, it is not right that any man should be in ^abondage one to another.

80 And for this purpose have I established the ^aConstitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the ^bshedding of blood.

An individual that seeks to change the constitution at its most fundamental principals is in opposition to God.

So, there many of you out there that are shaking your heads at me, that may be saying that I do not know what I am talking about, but I know that our country will be thrown into chaos if Obama is elected. We will have to fight for every right we have. This may not be a bad thing, but it will be costly. If congress is allowed to become unbalanced the we will suffer.

Do not look at this election as an issue of party, it is not, it is deeper that we understand. We have a long fight to keep our country free, McCain is only a stop gap solution.

I am not perfect, but I try to do what is right. When I understand what is right I try to the best I can. I feel with all my heart that this is the correct choice. Study it out in your mind.

I received this in response to a letter I sent the Senator:

Thank you for contacting me to express your concerns about the current crisis in our financial markets and the state of the economy. I appreciate hearing from you.

As you well know, our financial markets have become increasingly volatile over the past weeks. The collapse of major financial institutions and a giant insurance company sent a clear signal that we were on the brink of a major financial catastrophe. Something had to be done in order to prevent the problems of our financial markets from leaking into other sectors of our economy. Secretary Paulson and President Bush offered the first solution to the exacerbating economic decline as an attempt to get the dialogue flowing. However, many, including myself, believed that this plan was not sufficient. The House amended the original plan in an attempt to protect taxpayer's interest, prevent exuberant executive packages for participating entities, and provide more oversight. Even with these additions, the plan failed to pass the House, and that day the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell nearly 778 points, the biggest single-day point loss in history.

As you, I am deeply troubled by the financial situation we are facing. We did not get here because of any one decision or policy - these problems were years in the making. For example, in the late 1990s, the Clinton Administration began pressuring Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to purchase loans to subprime borrowers. We are seeing the consequences of a long series of policy errors, both in private and public sectors, which have combined to create a "perfect storm" of financial problems. In my view, one thing was for certain, inaction was not an option. We had to provide relief quickly because the consequences of inaction far outweighed the cost of the provisions in the legislation.

If we had not addressed this problem, we would be ignoring a much greater danger. For everyone who has a savings account, retirement savings, or a job, inaction placed these lifelines in jeopardy. For anyone who needs a mortgage loan, to borrow for a car, or to finance an education, the prospects had significantly worsened. With business expansion and job creation, there is a need for credit in order to make our economy work.

The Senate version of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, HR.1424, which ultimately passed the Senate and the House and was signed into law on October 3^rd, broadened the ability of the federal government to revitalize our economy. The legislation is designed to help secure retirement savings, help small-business owners meet payroll and help restore the American people's confidence in their own financial well being. Furthermore, the Senate added specific provisions to curtail the jobless rate and promote investment. Among the added provisions was a set of extensions to expired and expiring tax provisions, including the research tax credit and the Alternative Minimum tax (AMT). While it is estimated that 70 percent research tax credit dollars are used for wages of R&D employees, the AMT relief will free 23 million Americans, including hundreds of thousands of Utahns from having to pay the unfair AMT.

This legislation, while not perfect, will have a greater impact beyond Wall Street into Main Street. I believe that one reason why the financial rescue legislation failed to pass in the House the first time was because the American people were not convinced that the bill would help them personally. Along with this, I believe that many Americans failed to see the connection with the current crisis with our financial markets and their own future economic well being.

While the Economic Stabilization Act may hold off an impending economic meltdown, it must now be followed up with decisive action on our part. Foremost, we need to change the way the financial sector works. The Federal Reserve needs to rethink its definition of good monetary policy and determine whether its existing policy tools -- such as reserve requirements, oversight capabilities, and reporting rules -- are adequate. In addition, Congress must reconsider what it has charged the Federal Reserve to do. The Fed has been charged with two goals: 1) providing a sound currency with stable purchasing power, and 2) maintaining steady economic growth with low unemployment. At this point, it is obvious that an aggressive, excessively easy monetary policy in pursuit of short-term growth is self-destructive in the long-run. It leads only to inflation and speculative excesses in the credit markets that harm the economy. Only by focusing on a stable currency can the Federal Reserve achieve both its objectives.

We also need to completely rethink Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. As we've heard countless times over the last few weeks, in creating these two government-sponsored enterprises, we have made sure that the benefits of their investments are private while all the risks are public. Put simply, this is bad policy, with considerable moral hazard. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac together represent an immense government-created and government-coddled duopoly. In the years since their creation, they have focused mainly on their own expansion, recklessly urged on by many in Congress who believed this was a way to make home ownership more affordable for lower income families. However, as a recent Fed study has demonstrated, most of the benefit of the previously implicit - now explicit -- federal guarantee of their debt has gone to their shareholders as higher earnings, not to reducing costs for new homeowners. In their efforts to expand, Fannie and Freddie took too many unwarranted risks. They needed an ever-expanding supply of new mortgages to package and resell and to hold for income. Others fed this expansion effort with unsound lending. The recent Federal rescue package of these institutions requires an immediate step: Congressional oversight. It is a little late in coming, but, as of right now, it is essential.

The regulatory and rating agencies also need to be reviewed. We need to ask whether they have enough resources for adequate supervision and whether they've failed to recognize the evolutionary changes in the credit markets and the new business arrangements that reduced transparency in financing. These and other questions will have to be explored as we move forward.

I believe that we clearly need to reform our financial markets and refine the powers of the Federal Reserve in order to ensure crises like this don't happen again. And, though I hesitated to support the idea, it is not unreasonable to conclude that government intervention can provide immediate relief and prevent any more catastrophic losses in the near future and give the financial market time to sort out the mess. But, if we don't adopt policies that are pro-growth, pro-business, and pro-job creation, we won't be able to ensure long-term economic security for our country, no matter how many bad mortgages we purchase with taxpayers' money.

In order to address these concerns, Congress must be very careful as we work to solve this crisis. We must meet the demands of taxpayers and restore confidence in our financial markets.

Again, thanks for writing.

Sincerely,

Orrin G. Hatch

United States Senator

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Thank you.

The world we live in.

Over the past few months as I have watched political debates, political shuffling, and the general state we are in as a country, I have come to this conclusion, I'm tired.

I am tired of the yelling back and forth.

I am tired of the drive to destroy.

I am tired of the way the government is handling everything.

I am tired of dishonesty in the media.

I am tired of our desire to have something so badly, we will ignore those things that will destroy us.

I am tired of Hollywood, and there incredibly obvious attempts and politics. I would dare to say that it is nearly as bad as the McCarthy error.

I am tired of being tired.

This country of ours is great, but I think we need to change the saying of "I'm proud to be an American!", to "I am grateful to be an American!" At the same time we seem to be running head long into this desire to be controlled by our government. Case in point, the collapse of the financial markets. What are we doing allowing the government to interfere, I know that this will be a hard time, and that many would suffer right now if they didn't do something right now. But just as pulling out an object embedded in your arm may stop the immediate pain, you may die from loss of blood from the hole that is left. Having the government interfere now is just prolonging the pain, and will more than likely make things worse.

The desire to have the government make it all better, has begun to kill us as a nation. If the market is going to collapse, then it needs to collapse. Do you really believe that it will not come back. I look through history at the cycles that have occurred, the boom and busts that happen all the time, this is just another gold rush, another "dot com" bubble. It is both the blessing and the issue with the economy that has allowed us as a country to accomplish so much.

Global warming is a great example, cyclically the earth warms and cools, do we as humans affect this, probably a little we can always do better, but is the world panic that is occurring valid. I do not believe so, I remember in elementry school being told that we were headed for another ice age be cause we were polluting the world. In the 80's and 90's everyone was sure that the atmosphere was going to burn away be cause of CFCs.

In all this where is the call, pray to God for help, what do the scriptures say, what is the prophet saying. How many of us are try to rely on the "arm of flesh" to save us? We have those around us that say we need to pay more taxes, but the scriptures tell us that taxes usually come because of corrupt leaders that seek to gain power over us. Isn't the government seeking to inslave us by causing us to be more and more reliant on them? Isn't this trend in complete contrast to what the prophets have been telling us? The prophets say welfare starts in the home, take care of your family, your friends (love your neighbor...), and the children and widows. Work with your own hands, keep yourselves clean, don't buy more than you can afford, save for the future, have faith and live the gospel. Living by what the prophets have tolds us will allow us to stay clean before God, who can protect us and bless. He dresses the lillies and feeds the birds in the sky, he will watch over us!

My next thing is I am tired of politicians, no one wants to take responsiblilty for the mistakes. Whose fault is the state we are in, it is both our fault, for seeking power, and the politicians for seeking power. We continue to elect those people that gives us the things we feel we deserve. We look at those that are nice looking and good speakers, and never pay to there real substance. It was not long ago if a politician was caught in some immoral or dishonest, or subversive act that we got rid of them (Gary Hart for instance). Now we can be shown clear evidence of issues that indicate a person who is clearly seeking power over the people and we can ignore it, we can be bullied into not talking about it. We can be told that we are hateful or racist or a fanatic if our views are different than what Holywood stars believe.

I think back to the debates in Salt Lake when the Church purchased the main street area to make a park. We as a city spent so much time, effort, and money on this issue. Are not better things we have to do with our resources?

Another thing, today the news is that someone hacked in and obtained some personal e-mails of Sarah Palin. Now there is discussion about was said in them who they are to, and whether they were appropriate because she sent official e-mails through her personal account. Wait...wait...the people that hacked this are also the same people that have issues with the patriot act..., so as long as it fits my agenda it is ok? As long as the person I want as President is in the lead I will look away? As long as everyone is doing it, it must be the right thing?

What is right is right no matter who is doing it, what is wrong is wrong no matter who or how many believe and are doing it.

I am sure that there is no one reading this by this point, but I don't care. Those that think I am a nut are probably not here any way.

Dad

I am extremely discouraged with Dad, it like he has just given up. Everyone seems to be putting forth an effort to help, but everything seems to just suck the life out of him. I wish he would make a choice. I know this may be a choice that I won't like but it will be a choice all the same. In a movie that TBS has made it possible for us to all see The Shawshank Redemption, Morgan Freeman says, "Get busy livin' or get busy dieing." I don't know it all very frustrating to watch a man just quit.

Mom tries hard but dad is stubborn. I am trying to help her as I can I think that she needs to get some sort of land line and quit worrying about the cell phone it costs them way too much.

Keep them in your prayers.