Some of this is from a post on this blog I wrote a couple of years ago but is now updated to the outrageous actions and situation that this administration and most of congress have put us in today. Unfortunately, we are faced today with even more challenges and a bigger mess than before. Yesterday, John McCain, a Republican senator from Arizona who is supposed to be an American hero fell from grace. I appreciate what he did for his country in the 60's and 70's, for the sacrifice and suffering that he experienced. But today he is part of "The Good Ole Boy Club" (TGOBC) in Washington DC that is made up of the leadership of both the Republican and Democrat Parties. TGOBC is a disgrace to this country. They have spent us into almost $17 TRLLION in DEBT! Now they want to raise that debt ceiling one more time and get on with their making themselves and their friends more wealthier and powerful by the same old act of over spending, giving out friendship grants and contracts and letting the lobbyists of the country buy their allegiance and support. Along come a few "TEA Party" senators who want to do what is right and bring the country back to some common sense ground and a controlled budget and what does TGOBC member John McCain do? He attacks Mike Lee and tells him that he doesn't know what he is doing, that TGOBC is doing things the way they have always done them and to sit down and be quiet. Ted Cruz stands up and tells the Senate that he doesn't trust either party anymore because the leadership of both parties are the ones that got us into this mess in the first place and that continuing on will just deepen the mess. The national debt has increased 60% since his five year old daughter was born. Let me repeat that: THE NATIONAL DEBT HAS INCREASED 60% SINCE HIS FIVE YEAR OLD DAUGHTER WAS BORN! Some of you may remember a sticker that had a huge presence back in the early 70's "America, Love It or Leave It". The father of my best friend in high school, Carl Andersen, had a concrete company in Omaha. He had every truck in his fleet adorned with a large sticker that was about 18" wide that had the American flag on top and "Love It or Leave It" underneath the flag. I was lucky enough to get one from him. I still have that sticker today. I still treasure that sticker as much today as I did when I first obtained it. I still believe in the saying on that sticker today as much as I did back then and probably more so now. I really mean it when I say I miss the America I grew up in. The streets were safer, the schools were stricter, families meant something, and parents were responsible for their children. Friendships were important, outside activities were the norm instead of these new ways of entertaining yourself in front of some sort of electronic device. The only time we stayed inside to play with our road racing sets or our trains was when the weather was bad, and lots of times, that didn't stop us from bundling up and heading out to play. The bicycle was the main means of transportation, walking was next and last was getting a ride from your parents. Certainly we have made progress since then, but we have also let some of the good go away. A couple of years ago I was reading an article about a thirteen year old boy from Denair, CA who was told to take the American Flag off from his bike that he had been riding to school for two months with. He did it because he wanted to be patriotic and honor veterans, including his own grandfather who is a veteran. The school said they were concerned with racial tensions and uprisings from him displaying the flag!?!? WHAT??? THIS IS AMERICA! IF YOU CAN'T WAVE YOUR FLAG HERE, WHERE CAN YOU? This is not an isolated incident! How many times have we heard that the Pledge of Allegiance is no longer allowed, the displaying of the flag is no longer allowed, the wearing of patriotic clothing is no longer allowed, etc. This weekend we recognize those who have given their lives for our flag and our country along with recognition of those veterans and active duty service men and women who have done or are risking their lives for the same. We should be grateful to each and every one of them for their sacrifices. Now comes the time that it is no longer acceptable to stay quiet. If you are sensitive to anger, you should probably leave the blog now. I am just going to get more and more angry as this goes on. ABOUT TWO MILLION, TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND AMERICANS HAVE DIED FOR THE AMERICA! I REPEAT, ABOUT TWO MILLION, TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND AMERICANS HAVE DIED FOR AMERICA! Don't you dare tell someone they cannot fly that flag in a respectful manner, blood has been shed for centuries to protect that flag and the country that it stands for! If you can't live with that concept, you are not an American, you are a pinko-commie-socialist-capitalist hating-progressive-changeling-apologist-embarrassed-American hating piece of dung that I don't have time for! No apologies will be coming for that statement ever! If you don't love America, its flag, its freedoms, its Constitution, and its veterans, go away. We don't want you to change this country! You can improve it for the better, but don't change it! Take your "touchy feely psychology" for dealing with people who are violent and criminal; "your make everyone feel good by not pointing out mistakes or declaring a winner" program; your "business is evil" attitude; your "don't be patriotic because we might hurt an illegal alien's feelings" rules; your "you make a really lot of money, so you need to be taxed more to make those who don't work equal to you" welfare system; your "all health insurance programs must be the same or we will penalize the better ones" Obamacare package; your "we apologize for being such an evil country" agenda; your George Soros funded American subversive organizations; your anti-2nd amendment gun hating agendas; and your all around I hate the real America attitudes and go someplace where they will appreciate you and your warped minds! Honestly, leave! The sooner the better! If you hate America so much, please leave! We want it to stay the same and get better. We want it the way the Founding Fathers envisioned it not the way the lunatic progressives are trying to change it and destroy it! TGOBC is right there with you, we don't want them anymore, all of you have done enough damage to last for generations to come! Our children, grand children, great grand children, great-great grandchildren and more will wonder forever what we were thinking allowing this to happen! We were idiots, all of us. It took the election and re-election of a hardcore progressive socialist for us to wake up and unfortunately many are still taking their "everything is fine" nap and sucking the life out of whatever they can and picking up whatever is free. Mitt Romney said it best, "No Apologies". We must get rid of all of these cancerous attitudes, agendas, subversive themes and the people in leadership roles who push them. They need to be voted out, removed from positions, fired, made to resign or just plain ignored so that they have to go make a living like the rest of us and they have to quit sucking the life out of us by living off the public tax revenues. That is the worst part; these are people that are paid by our tax dollars! We have allowed them to set up shop on our dollar! How stupid and angry does that make you feel? It is not time to sit back and relish in the warm fuzzy feeling that is told to us every time we get another press conference from our great administration! Remember, these are the same ones that sat back and watched for hours as four of our American citizens were killed in Benghazi when they could have done something to stop it and protect them. These are the same ones that used the IRS to harass the groups that they don't like so they could keep them from growing. These are the same ones that had the Justice Dept. seize the private records of numerous media and press people, phone lines, texts, emails, etc. of numerous media and press people. These are the same ones that will NOT put "extremist", "radical", "muslim", "jihad" or "islam" together in the same sentence because they refuse to let people know the truth of what is happening in the world today. These are the same ones that have allowed the Muslim Brotherhood to set up camp in the White House, the Pentagon, most of the federal agencies and wherever they feel like. There is a lot of work that needs to be done and unless we keep the pressure on, our common sense senators and representatives will be rough shod and kicked out of the way by the "elitist class" and TGOBC. We must continue to push to have a smaller government, NO MORE TYRANNY, less spending, fewer restrictions to growth, lower taxes, more accountability, less corruption and more patriotism. This is America, Love It or Leave It. We are not going to let them "change" it anymore. Have a good Memorial Day weekend and may God Bless America and us! And remember, BELIEVE IN AMERICA, the America we love!

The Atonement

"31 And he spake unto me again, saying: Look! And I looked, and I beheld the Lamb of God going forth among the children of men. And I beheld multitudes of people who were sick, and who were afflicted with all manner of diseases, and with devils and unclean spirits; and the angel spake and showed all these things unto me. And they were healed by the power of the Lamb of God; and the devils and the unclean spirits were cast out. 32 And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me again, saying: Look! And I looked and beheld the Lamb of God, that he was taken by the people; yea, the Son of the everlasting God was judged of the world; and I saw and bear record. 33 And I, Nephi, saw that he was lifted up upon the cross and slain for the sins of the world." 1 Nephi 11: 31-33 The Atonement as we know it from the scriptures means to suffer the penalty for sins, remove the effects of sin and allowing a cleansing so that we can live for eternity with Heavenly Father. As mortals, we inherited the effects of the Fall of Adam and Eve. We are subject to temptation and deception. When we give in and sin, we distance ourselves from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and lose the influence of the Holy Ghost. We bring this upon ourselves because of the choices we make. If the sinning continues, we experience a spiritual death and are left alone in the world. A darkness as described in Lehi's Dream overcomes us and we wander without a course. Later when occasions come that we are influenced by the light of the Lord through conversations, reading, watching, listening or remembering and longing for the peace that we once had, we begin to question our course or lack thereof and look around to see where we are. We acknowledge the darkness surrounding us and we seek out the light. We are drawn to the light when we see it and as we get closer, we begin to see the error in our ways and we begin to correct them and ask for forgiveness and mercy that we can return to the strait and narrow path. We reach out and take hold of the iron rod and if we do not let go and we continue to move forward, we again reach the happiness and peace that we once had. We all know this process as repentance. Through repentance we are cleansed by the Atonement. How this works we don't know, but we are told in Helaman 5:11; "11 And he hath power given unto him from the Father to redeem them from their sins because of repentance; therefore he hath sent his angels to declare the tidings of the conditions of repentance, which bringeth unto the power of the Redeemer, unto the salvation of their souls." Christ also tells us in Doctrine and Covenants 19: 16-18; "16 For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; 17 But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I; 18 Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink— " Let's take a look at what the atonement does. The Atonement cleanses us of our sins. In Doctrine and Covenants 58: 42 it says "42 Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more." I have always been intrigued by the fact the Lord does not tell us that we will not remember our sins. This becomes a great deterrent for us as we continue on and forsake those sins to remember the suffering and pain that those sins caused. Eventually we forgive ourselves for the sins and we let them become a part of our past, not forgotten, but out of mind, not needing to be dealt with anymore. The Atonement allows us to forgive. In Doctrine and Covenants 64: 9-10 it tells us " 9 Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin. 10 I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men." Notice how the Lord requires us to forgive others for us to be forgiven. And a key point at the end of verse 10, "it is required to forgive all men". He doesn't say other men but all men, that includes us. We must forgive ourselves also. Forgiveness is a key part in the Atonement! President Wilford Woodruff said "let us not spend too much time confessing the other fellows sins. Ours is the responsibility to find our own need for repentance." The Atonement strengthens us. In Mathew 11: 28-30 we read " 28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you crest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. " When we have burdens placed upon us, do we look down in despair, or as so many around us have shown us by example, do we look up and ask for strength to overcome those burdens. With Heavenly Father's help, with the blessings pronounced on us in the temple ordinances and by our righteousness, we can accomplish anything. The Atonement makes the temple ordinances possible for each of us to be eligible for eternal life with Heavenly Father and our families. The Atonement creates Hope. We can look forward to the promise of the eternities so that we are not trapped by the bindings of our mortal existence and we can release ourselves from both spiritual and physical deaths. The Atonement comforts us. In Alma 7: 11-12 we read "11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. 12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities." The Savior experienced all of the pain and suffering that each one of us will experience in our lives. Not only the suffering of our sins, but just as important all of the suffering that we will experience as the result of other's sins, ours and other's illnesses and afflictions, emotional and physical suffering and hurts and all of the depression and despair that we will feel. He knows what each and every one of us will face in our lives and He lifts and strengthens us to be able to withstand and endure all of these things when we ask worthily for that strength. He will not make us endure anything that we are not capable of withstanding on our own. But it is our humble duty to ask for help. The Atonement ties all of the ordinances and teachings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ together. When we are born, we are freed from the original transgressions of Adam and Eve. When we are baptized, we are washed clean of our sins and we take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ and become members of His Church. When we receive the Holy Ghost, we are given a companion to help us through our journey in life if we remain worthy. When we take the Sacrament, we renew our covenants and promises to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and by doing so we are allowed to have the Spirit with us as we are told in the Sacrament prayers. Often as part of the repentance process a Bishop will ask a member not to partake of the sacrament until the Bishop and that person feel it is appropriate to do so again. Having been in a couple of Bishoprics, I have seen the change in people when they are told they may begin to take the sacrament again. I have watched a change take place in them that is visually noticeable as they partake of the bread and water! I can testify to you the importance of taking the sacrament worthily so that the Holy Spirit can be with us! Temple Ordinances allow us to learn what we need to do to enter into the presence of Heavenly Father if we live worthily. They also teach us and strengthen us in our progression through life. For those that have gone on before us, their acceptance of the Atonement allows us to act as proxies for them in the temple and this allows them to receive and accept those same ordinances that we receive in the temple so that they will also be prepared to enter in to the presence of the Lord. This family history and temple work matters. One night about eleven months ago while we were at the temple with members of our ward doing sealings for the dead, I had the wonderful opportunity of being taught the importance of these ordinances to those who we act as proxy for. I was shown the joy and celebration of those that accept it and then immediately behind that the sadness and embarrassment as they are accepted and someone else does not have that opportunity. This greatly troubled me and I was trying to understand how there would not be joy by all. Then it came to me that someone had been missed. There was sorrow because all of the family was not receiving their ordinances. I asked after the ordinance was completed the name on the card so I could remember it. Later I told Sister Homer the name and asked her to check it again, that maybe someone had been missed. The next morning in just a couple of hours, she was able to find over 23 additional names of a brother of this couple that had not had their work done. This work matters to them also. And finally when we die, we are able to receive the ordinance of resurrection so that we may live for eternity with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. The Atonement is like a binding matter that connects all of these aspects of the Gospel together. Pres. David O. McKay said that "the purpose of the gospel was to turn bad men, good and to turn good men, better." What better way to do this than through the Atonement? There is one other aspect of the Atonement that I would like to discuss. The Atonement is a process of progression in the Gospel. In 3Nephi 12 & 13 we are told about the Sermon at the Temple which is nearly identical to the Sermon on the Mount. This is a matter of great importance to the Lord. He taught the same principles to both groups of disciples. If we study this sermon, we see that it is a map for the Atonement in our lives that leads us through a progression that takes us back to Heavenly Father, where we can continue to learn how to be like Him. Because of the amount of time it would take to read the sermon, I will summarize the content in the steps of the progression. We start by realizing we lack spirituality. Then we begin to mourn for our transgressions. We are then comforted and we realize a new light in our lives. As we are filled with this light of the Gospel, we begin to turn more outward and also we become more merciful towards others. Our progression takes us beyond the ugliness of the world that surrounds us and we cling more to the gospel for comfort. Contention becomes something that we avoid and we look for peace in those that we associate with. We become persecuted for our ways as we grow in the gospel. We either fall because we look to the large and spacious building as in Lehi's dream or we turn towards the light and cling tighter to the gospel. We are admonished more than ever at this point to stay true to our covenants lest we fall. It is told to us that it is important for us to endure to the end. Finally we come to the God-like attributes towards the end of the sermon. These attributes require patience, pure love, and for us to take total control over our emotions. We read in 3Nephi 12: 44-48 " 44 But behold I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them who despitefully use you and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father who is in heaven; for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good. 46 Therefore those things which were of old time, which were under the law, in me are all fulfilled. 47 Old things are done away, and all things have become new. 48 Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect." At this point we have used the power of the Atonement and are ready to live with God as He is. We come to the point of the Great Judgment Day when our progression in the kingdoms stops and we have either earned a position of no more progression for eternity in a lower kingdom or we have shown our worthiness to exist with Heavenly Father and have eternal progression through the full acceptance of the Gospel and the Atonement in exaltation. If we make it to this point in our progression we will stand before the judgment bar ready. I have thought what it would be like to get to this point and I have imagined that it will be something like this if I have been faithful and lived worthily. The Savior will greet me by name, for He truly knows each one of us individually, I will put my own name here but imagine this is your own name and He is speaking on your behalf. This is Howard, one of my disciples. He took upon him my name and accepted the Atonement. I accept his offering of service, love and charity. I accept his willingness to take on higher laws and responsibilities and that he has made covenants in doing so and has brought his family with him so they can be together as one. In his darkest hours I gave him strength when he asked for it and when he didn't, I lifted him up. I felt all of the pain and suffering that he experienced in life, even when it was not his fault. I gave comfort to him as needed for I know his strengths and weaknesses. I was with him when he shed tears of a parent for his children and when he shed tears as a child while caring for aging parents. Because of his willingness to do better, I accept him and call him one of mine. Let him enter. Through the Hope of the Atonement, this opportunity awaits all of us through our righteousness and our Savior Jesus Christ's love for us. In His name, Jesus Christ Who lives, Amen.

If we save only one life...

There has been a tremendous amount of talk, debate and arguing about the gun control issue and the importance of "saving one life". I am in favor of leaving gun control alone as it is currently regulated for mentally healthy and law-abiding citizens. I would put the emphasis on changes to restrict guns from mentally ill and those with a criminal intent or background. The mentally ill would have to be reported somehow and have those taking certain medications restricted from possession or ownership of guns. For the criminals, a criminal background forfeits your rights for gun ownership and we should impose very harsh penalties for the use of a gun in a crime other than accident, involving guns. But I would like to talk about how we save just one life. Our children are very important and deserve every logical and effective effort we can come up with to protect them from violence. None of our children should be subjected to violence. It is our duty as a society to protect them. Is there anyone that would disagree with me? If you do, then you obviously cannot participate in any discussions especially ones that include the argument of "if we only save one life." With that stated, I would propose discussion and changes that will show our purpose of saving our children. We should start with changes that will save the lives of over 1,200,000 children every year in this country. If we save only one life, then we have made an improvement. Forty years ago, our country started into the darkest period we have ever been in. A period of violence unheard of in the history of the world. We began taking the lives of children before they could defend themselves. And we did this with law set down by the Supreme Court; Roe v. Wade, January 22, 1973. Since that dark day in history, we have eliminated over 55,000,000 children by abortion in the United States of America. That is the equivalent of 17.45% of the current population of the country today!

The Allan Guttmacher Institute 1973 - 2011 2009-2011 are estimates of 1,212,400 annually. One baby is aborted every 26 seconds 137 every hour 3,304 every day 23,196 every week 100,516 every month 1.206,192 every year in the United States alone. Why are we making such a huge issue about guns and the laws that pertain to them when we are slaughtering over 1,200,000 children per year in this country? Are we really interested in saving but one life? No. A 2004 study by the Guttmacher Institute reported that women listed the following amongst their reasons for choosing to have an abortion: • 74% Having a baby would dramatically change my life • 73% Cannot afford a baby now • 48% Do not want to be a single mother or having relationship problems • 38% Have completed my childbearing • 32% Not ready for a(nother) child • 25% Do not want people to know I had sex or got pregnant • 22% Do not feel mature enough to raise a(nother) child • 14% Husband or partner wants me to have an abortion • 13% Possible problems affecting the health of the fetus • 12% Concerns about my health • 6% Parents want me to have an abortion • 1% Was a victim of rape • less than 0.5% Became pregnant as a result of incest Source: The Alan Guttmacher Institute, Perspective on Sexual & Reproductive Health, Sept. 2005 Many will argue that they are not children, they are fetuses. I don't believe that and a good portion of the country agrees with me. So if you don't want to count them as children, I will adjust the numbers to a level that very few could argue about, 16 weeks. There is a lot of argument about "When does life begin". It would seem to be pretty hard for anyone to argue that a baby at 16 weeks gestation is just a mass of tissue or just a fetus based on what the scientific community knows today about the development of a baby at 16 weeks: - The body is fully formed, the fingers and toes have fingerprints & nails. - Is about 5 inches long and weighs about 3 ounces. - The baby is moving about: may grasp for the umbilical cord , suck it's thumb, and make facial expressions - The heart & circulatory system and the urinary tract are fully functioning. and the blood is pumping through these tiny veins - The baby is inhaling and exhaling the amniotic fluid through the lungs. -The eyes are in the proper position, and the baby can see straight ahead & blink his/her eyelids. - The genitals have formed. In the case of a girl, the uterus has already developed and the ovaries are in the proper place. - Umberto Castiello, University of Padova, Italy reported unborn babies have the ability to interact as early as 14 weeks into the pregnancy: "We conclude that performance of movements towards the co-twin is not accidental: already starting from the 14th week of gestation twin fetuses execute movements specifically aimed at the co-twin." Approximately 64,000 babies will have their lives terminated after 16 weeks gestation this year in the U.S.A., 5.3% of all abortions. This is the equivalent of killing all of the residents of Portland, ME or Palo Alto, CA every year. "If we only save one life." Americans’ views concerning abortion: •79% do not support the current abortion-on-demand policy, saying abortion should be legal only in some circumstances (68%), or illegal in all circumstances (11%). Marist Poll, December 2011 •78% believe that women who have abortions commonly experience moderately severe to very severe negative emotional reactions to abortion. Medical Science Monitor, 2003 •95% of women want to be informed of all risks of a medical procedure; 69% want to be informed of all alternatives. Journal of Medical Ethics, July 2006 •64% of women who experienced one or more abortions “felt pressured by others” to have the abortion. Medical Science Monitor, Oct. 2004 I would suggest that we as a country have lost our souls. We engage in arguments about guns, while we have wholesale slaughter going on at the same time at the rate of 1,200,000 children per year, 100,500 per month, 23,000 per week, 3,300 per day, 137 per hour and 1 per 26 seconds. During the time that I have been writing this post, over 200 babies have been killed. Until we become a truly concerned and civilized people, don't you dare say "if we can only save one life" while we have our backs turned to the slaughter going on with the approval and in many cases, the funding of the government we elected. May God Bless us and America... But I wonder how he could when we do this. We wonder how God lets things like the shootings happen, yet we have obviously removed God from our lives, our schools, our communities our society and our country. In our prayers during the next few days, I think we should seek forgiveness for letting this happen and ask for help in restoring our society and country to a place where "ending killings" begins with the beginning of life. We need to work at being a society that values life in words and deeds and not just from the public pulpit. If you were able to read this post without shedding tears, may I suggest you look deep within your soul and see what has become of it. Thank you for listening and May God Bless each of you and our country.