Choose Ye Today

Over the weekend, I went and visited the Museum of Art and was able to see all 42 paintings on the Book of Mormon by Teichert. I was grateful for this opportunity to see the paintings. I saw them just a short time ago, but didn’t have the time for in-depth analysis at that point. Teichert was born in 1888 in Ogden, as the granddaughter of pioneers. She enjoyed art and studied it her whole life. Over the course of just 2 years, Teichert was able to paint 42 murals on the Book of Mormon, later donating them to BYU, which is how they were obtained. One of the paintings I chose was the painting of Abinadi standing before King Noah. This reminds me of an important theme from the Book of Mormon. The painting shows the upright stature of Abinadi, his unfearing demeanor. The theme in the Book of Mormon related to this picture is standing as a witness of God at all times. If there is one example that truly exemplifies standing as a witness of God, it is Abinadi. Abinadi was not fearful of w...

I had to write a report on Religion in our Government today and thought I would share a few thoughts from that report. Essential in each of our lives’ today is a form of belief. This can be based upon any certain principles, and mustn’t be the same as a neighbor, brother, parent, or friend. This can come as well in the form of unbelief. But the desire of the human heart is to have something to turn to, and what better than a set of beliefs? How then, do we as people, use those beliefs in the way we govern ourselves? Is it fair to use those beliefs against others, because they aren’t the same views? How does one come to a compromise? In agreement with Hatzenbuehler and the ideas of Jefferson and Lincoln, religion should play a personal role in each of our lives and is for each of us to decide personally between us and God, leaving it as an unnecessary evil for a government to take a role in personal beliefs, choosing a set of beliefs at the expense of others. Religion should not play...

"Perhaps the greatest charity comes when we are kind to each other, when we don't judge or categorize someone else, when we simply give each other the benefit of the doubt or remain quiet. Charity is accepting someone's differences, weaknesses, and shortcomings; having patience with someone who has let us down; or resisting the impulse to become offended when someone doesn't handle something the way we might have hoped. Charity is refusing to take advantage of another's weakness and being willing to forgive someone who has hurt us. Charity is expecting the best of each other. None of us need one more person bashing or pointing out where we have failed or fallen short. Most of us are already well aware of the areas in which we are weak. What each of us does need is family, friends, employers, and brothers and sisters who support us, who have the patience to teach us, who believe in us, and who believe we're trying to do the best we can, in spite of our weakne...