It is time to fast and pray
To focus on the gospel
The great and dreadful day
Is a message to all people

Freely He gives
To those who ask
Through Christ who lives
And bears… as we task

To summarize our capacity to influence those around us, President McKay said the following half a century ago:

There is one responsibility which no man can evade and that responsibility is personal influence. Man’s unconscious influence, the silent, subtle radiation of his personality. The effect of his words and acts. These are tremendous. Every moment of life he is changing to a degree the life of the whole world.
Every man has an atmosphere which is affecting every other. Man cannot escape for one moment from this radiation of his character. This constantly weakening or strengthening of others. He cannot evade the responsibility by saying it is an unconscious influence. He can select the qualities he would permit to be radiated. He can cultivate sweetness, calmness, trust, generosity, truth, justice, loyalty, nobility, and make them vitally active in his character. By these qualities he will constantly affect the world. This radiation to which I refer comes from what a person really is, not from what he pretends to be. Every man by his mere living is radiating sympathy, sorrow, or morbidness, cynicism, or happiness or hope, or any other hundred qualities. Life is a state of radiation and absorption. To exist is to radiate. To exist is to be the recipient of radiation.

“To radiate our positive influence in civic affairs, we must become righteous and moral; we must, as Ghandi once said, be the change we wish to see in the world. We need to learn and abide by the principles found in the Constitution, for as President McKay taught: “Next to being one in worshiping God, there is nothing in this world upon which this Church should be more united than in upholding and defending the Constitution of the United States!” (Instructor Magazine, 1956, 91:34). We must take that knowledge and understanding of the Constitution, and infuse our political system with its disinfecting simplicity and principled restraints; we must become leaders and work diligently to support good people in public office, or seek office ourselves. And finally, we must radiate our influence by exposing ourselves to those who might be impacted and uplifted by our actions, words, and character.”

http://www.connorboyack.com/blog/the-civic-duty-of-the-latter-day-saints

Imagine all who stand by
Beyond the veil, to help you to endure
Cheering for you to always try
The Savior is there, too, I am sure

Facing financial ruin

A flaw in the truck’s design
Caused exhaust pipe’s to leak
Unaware, we slept in time
Then… my father stopped to peek

He found us both unconscious
And worked to give us breath
He and a friend rescued us
From the deep, dark pit of death

Many times in life I know
My dad has thought to look on us
As promptings often grow
Born of the Holy Ghost

A few times I thought I was well
My crisis unknown to me
But he revived me, I live to tell
He acted on each prompting

My Father Rescued Me
Greg W. Haws
Ensign, Jan 2012, 15

Which one is but a sleeping giant
A leader for great things to come
For the wayward- a shoulder to cry on
A symbol of what we can become

The Atonement is real
To be seen all around
To lift us , to heal
That hope might abound


Let friendships be made
To spark this remembrance
Then don’t let it fade
Through neglect, sin, or distance

I lost 30 pounds at myweightlossteam.com
years ago and then stopped the membership
thinking I was done. Having established
healthy habits. But, now I have moved and
am a little older… and with the holidays
it hit me that I have gained 20 pounds back!

Here is me getting back on track…

Push yourself to the limit
Starting today….and go slow
Through baby steps you will witness
Results… long term to know

this is now a free site by the way, and the profile page alone is worth it…