Iceland - Interesting Information

Iceland - Where education and healthcare are free . . . no McDonald's or prisons . . .

We took photos of this cathedral when we were in Iceland in 2024; but this is not one of our photos.

Here is a view of this "Cathedral of Christ the King" in Reykjavik, which I took showing the statue in front of the Viking Leifur Eiriksson (the first European to stumble across America), which was a present from the U.S. on the 1000th anniversary of the Alpingi (Parliament) in 1930.

Interior of the cathedral

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Here are some facts about Iceland copied from a Facebook post, but I also have included this comment shared by a native living in Iceland who corrected some of the misinformation with that post: "We do have prisons, and healthcare is not compleatly free, but very cheap. You will need a good resumé which includes a name of previous employer for recomendations. We do NOT vote online for government. Marriage here is looked upon in the same mannréttindi as elsewhere. We do have private medical clinics for many things. And we do pay for heating our houses.  Please get your facts straight."

Now after sharing that quote from one living in Iceland, I am now sharing the post from Facebook with some other interesting information that hopefully is mostly accurate:

 

Icelanders love to read. The country ranks first in the world in this regard.

If you order water at a café or restaurant, you won’t have to pay for it. They will give you tap water, which is very good because it comes from thermal springs.

If you decide to change jobs, you won’t need a recommendation letter from your previous job. Icelanders trust people and don’t impose strict controls.

Iceland is the only country in the world where voting is conducted online.

This country is considered very conservative. Locals take marriage very seriously.

Tourism is highly developed in Iceland. The number of tourists increases every year and is twice the population of the country.

There is no army in Iceland. If a citizen wants to serve in the military, they can join the Norwegian army based on an agreement between the two countries.

All schools and other educational institutions are free.

There are no private clinics because there is simply no need for them. State hospitals provide excellent medical services.

Iceland is one of the few countries in Europe that uses district heating, and people don’t pay for it. (Contradicted by the native as quoted above.)

How the Doctrine and Covenants Has Changed Over the Years

In 2025, we are studying the Doctrine and Covenants 

* in our class in Sunday School, 

* in our home with personal scripture study, 

* and together with Sam as we follow 

   the podcast of John Bytheway and Hank Smith.

How the Doctrine and Covenants Has Changed Over the Years 

(from the Church's Newsroom article online) 

The original Book of Commandments and Revelations and the corresponding section of the Doctrine and Covenants, Friday, Sept. 11, 2009.  

(Photos Courtesy of Church News)

Title page to the Book of Commandments, 1833. This copy belonged to Wilford Woodruff.

• Printed in Independence, Missouri.
• In July 1833, mobs destroyed the printing press and building partway through the printing.
• From the saved pages, 64 and a half chapters — as the sections were called then — were included.
• Copies sold for 25 cents each, and the owner bound his or her copy.

Doctrine and Covenants, 1835 Edition

• Printed in Kirtland, Ohio, in 1835.
• Copies contained the seven Lectures on Faith (the doctrine) and 103 revelations (the covenants).
• The edition was accepted by the Church on Aug. 17, 1835.
• It included “the Appendix,” now known as Section 133.
• 
  

A tribute to Joseph and Hyrum Smith was added into the 

1844 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants. 

It was a smaller type size to fit it on the page.

• Printed in Nauvoo, Illinois.
• It included the 103 sections from the 1835 edition, plus seven additional items.
• Section 111, now Section 135, a tribute to Joseph and Hyrum Smith, was added during the printing. It was printed in smaller text so that it would fit on the page at the end of the book.
• 
  

1876 Edition - Portrait of Apostle Orson Pratt

• Elder Orson Pratt, then the Church historian, worked on the new edition.
• Sections were reordered to be in rough chronological order.
• Twenty-six new sections were added, including sections 2, 13, 109, 110, 121–123, 132 and 136.
• Verse sizes and section headings changed.
• The table of contents was expanded.
• 
  

The title page of the 1921 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants. 

• A committee of five apostles — Elders George F. Richards, Anthony W. Ivins, Joseph Fielding Smith, James E. Talmage and Melvin J. Ballard — reviewed the Doctrine and Covenants.
• They recommended adding 20 sections, but none were added. (It’s not known precisely which sections those were.)
• Wilford Woodruff’s Manifesto was labeled as an “Official Declaration.” (It had been included in recent printings.)
• “Lectures on Faith” was removed.
• 
  

 1981 edition - Doctrine and Covenants section 4

• Two revelations that were in the Pearl of Great Price in 1976 — Joseph Smith’s vision of the celestial kingdom and Joseph F. Smith’s 1918 vision of the redemption of the dead — were added as sections 137 and 138.
• The 1978 revelation on the priesthood was included as a second official declaration.
• Footnotes were changed to correspond with the Latter-day Saint edition of the English Bible, which was published for the first time in 1979.
• 
  

2013 edition - The Doctrine and Covenants is part of the Church’s triple combination with the Book of Mormon and the Pearl of Great Price.

• Section headings were altered to incorporate new historical research, primarily through the Joseph Smith Papers project.
• Historical introductions to the official declarations were added.
• Minor spelling and punctuation errors were corrected.
• Footnote and index errors were corrected.
• With new printings, minor adjustments were made as needed.

Random Photos of Interest

These are photos I had originally thought to include in my Shutterfly book last year; but due to page space concerns, I have shared these here in my blog instead.

Joseph Smith, 1830; Brigham Young, 1847; John Taylor, 1880; Wilford Woodruff, 1889; Lorenzo Snow, 1898; Joseph F. Smith, 1901; Heber J. Grant, 1918; George Albert Smith, 1945; David O. McKay, 1951; Joseph Fielding Smith, 1970; Harold B. Lee, 1972; Spencer W. Kimball, 1973; Ezra Taft Benson, 1985; Howard W. Hunger, 1994; Gordon B. Hinckley, 1995; Thomas S. Monson, 2008; Russell M. Nelson, 2018

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Buffalo Roundup in Custer State Park

(Facebook photo)

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In 2024, the Church-wide rotation for our scripture study was the "Book of Mormon." The Old Testament, New Testament, Doctrine of Covenants, and Book of Mormon are in this yearly rotation cycle.  (And now in 2025, it is the Doctrine of Covenants.)

Photo of the original Book of Commandments and Revelations and the corresponding section of the Doctrine and Covenants, 

(Sept. 11, 2009. Photo courtesy of Church News.)

next blog entry: 

How the Doctrine and Covenants Has Changed Over the Years

Guides, Checklists, and Challenges

 Best Tips

 A Suggested Challenge for 2025

Your Life Is Your Garden

Your Life Is Your Garden 

Diane Clark - "Latter Day Saints Uplifting Quotes" - Facebook, January 11, 2024

“Such a Wise and Impervious Natural History!”

“Let’s talk about Gardens, as in everything that I own or have seen, a Garden planted, is well worth its intention!”

“When you are a child, our Heavenly Father has already planted your garden with your own seed.

He knows whether or not you are a gardener but He knows you will become a star!”

“Everyone makes mistakes in Life, but that doesn’t mean they have to pay for them the rest of their life!”

“Sometimes good people make bad choices.”

It doesn’t mean they are bad. It means they are human!” (Lessons Taught by Life)

Your thoughts are sparkling bits of grandeur!

“Your logic can become as a “seed of progress.”

When you are about your work, during your day, look up and find another bit of your day—inspiration for your garden, plans and aspiration.

“The Lord is . . . amply gifted!

Pride goeth before the destruction, a haughty Spirit before the Fall!

Wisdom and modesty are to be over pride and wealth!”

“Gardens are translucent." (Anon)

Gardens are intended for many other purposes, so remember there are many other gardens which have existed on Earth before.

Remember the Garden of Eden and what happened there was enlightening for all mankind!

Adam and Eve were our first parents.

Heavenly Father created them with His Son, Jesus the Christ.

Adam didn’t partake from the tree of Fruit of Good and Evil, but Eve knew it was necessary so she got Adam to partake, too.

The world looks at this story with disdain, but just like in this part of saying!

“If your life isn’t awesome, you’ve been watering the weeds!”

“Stop and reflect!

Stop and look around at our world—“do you want to be watering weeds forever?

Think about “your seeds and plant a world of Beauty!”

“While we know of our mortal problems and pain.

“He knows of our progress and potential!”

(Russell M. Nelson)

“We can always move into a greener space and continue to plant seeds of faith, hope and unconditional love!”



We will find ourselves in a bigger space with motivation of making and sharing our own Garden space with our world.

“We are the clay and you are the Potter: we are all the work of your hand!” (Isaiah 64-8)

We are the leaders of tomorrow; we may find peace and lead men and women into Heavenly places just as being kind and respectful of all plants and natural things!

“A garden is a place of peace and contentment.”

Let us find our God in amongst them all, and praise Him!”

Studying the Doctrine of Covenants

As we begin our scripture study this year of the "Doctrine and Covenants," the following uplifting quotes were shared online.

* Doctrine and Covenants 1:37 

“Search these commandments, for they are true and faithful, and the prophecies and promises which are in them shall all be fulfilled.”

*Ezra Taft Benson - “Here then is the key—look to the prophets for the words of God, that will show us how to prepare for the calamities which are to come.”

*Merrill J. Bateman - “There are certain blessings obtained when one searches the scriptures. As a person studies the words of the Lord and obeys them, he or she draws closer to the Savior and obtains a greater desire to live a righteous life. The power to resist temptation increases, and spiritual weaknesses are overcome. Spiritual wounds are healed.”

*Russell M. Nelson - “God gives us the pattern for success, happiness, and joy in this life. We are to hear the words of the Lord, hearken to them, and heed what He has told us! As we seek to be disciples of Jesus Christ, our efforts to hear Him need to be ever more intentional. It takes conscious and consistent effort to fill our daily lives with His words, His teachings, His truths.”

He Always Pushes the Grocery Cart

He always pushes the grocery cart.

. . . (and when we get back to the truck, he always unlocks the doors immediately so that I can get in, and then proceeds to unload the groceries, . . . . This is our grocery game plan.)

Can I let you in on a little secret?

It’s taken me many years to appreciate being loved like this.

You see, I spent (ie. wasted) a lot of time looking for how love is shown in the movies, in the magazines, and on the commercials.

Flowers.

Chocolates.

Romantic meals.

Surprise getaways.

And guess what?

I was disappointed time. and time. and time again.

All because I was looking for the ways that I was being told he should show his love -

Instead of paying attention to how he actually does show his love.

And when I eventually came to that realization?

That was the relationship game changer.

For he rarely buys flowers,

But he calls me every day when he gets off work, to see if I need anything picked up.

He never thinks of buying chocolates,

But whenever he sees anything that resembles a slice of plant-based, organic goodness, he always buys it for me - And is always so proud to surprise me with his latest grocery store find.

And while he cannot put together a travel itinerary to save his soul,

He has sat in a theatre on Broadway with me to watch a musical. He has walked through Ernest Hemingway’s home with me. He has been through more museums and libraries in a lifetime than he cares to admit. And he has never complained about any of it. Not even once.

And it’s more than that. So much more than that.

He’s gotten up in the middle of the night with a crying baby. If his restaurant order is better than mine, he’ll switch plates. He watches "Sleepless in Seattle" when he would rather be watching Jason Bourne (at least I think that’s his name). He knows my most favourite ‘lady products’, and will run to the pharmacy to grab me them whenever needed (if that isn’t love, I don’t know what is).

And, he will always, always push the grocery cart.

You know, the more I think of it,

The flowers, the chocolates, the romantic meals, and the surprise getaways?

That’s all just momentary anyway.

The flowers die. The chocolate and meals get devoured. And the surprise getaways happen, and then they’re over.

But it’s in the moments that you can depend on (over and over and over again), well, that’s where the love is found.

The good love.

The always love.

Like your ‘most coziest blanket on a fall day’ love.

And it’s THAT kinda’ love that I want to walk through this life feeling.

Don’t search for the flowers, Ladies. Nor waste your time in want of the chocolates.

Search for the one who will push your grocery cart.

For that’s where the always kinda’ love is ♡

“The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles” - 25th Anniversary

2025 is the 25th anniversary of "The Living Christ: The Testimonhy of the Apostles."

Artwork: “Fear Not,” by Kelsy and Jesse Lightweave

"As we celebrate the 25th anniversary of “The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles” this year, we have a special opportunity to focus on the life and attributes of Jesus Christ. 

"He is our Savior, the Creator, and our perfect example. 

“None other has had so profound an influence upon all who have lived and will yet live upon the earth.”

"Each week in January we will share a section of this declaration and invite you to deepen your study of the life and mission of Jesus Christ. Take time each day to reflect on His teachings, miracles, Atonement, and Resurrection and draw closer to Him as the living Christ. (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)

The Poem That Once Was Us

Shared from Facebook:

THE POEM THAT ONCE WAS US

A little house with three bedrooms,

One bathroom and one car on the street;

A mower that you had to push

To make the grass look neat.

In the kitchen on the wall

We only had one phone,

And no need for recording things,

Someone was always home.

We only had a living room

Where we would congregate;

Unless it was at mealtime

In the kitchen where we ate.

We had no need for family rooms

Or extra rooms to dine.

When meeting as a family

Those two rooms worked out just fine.

We only had one TV set

And channels, maybe two,

But always there was one of them

With something worth the view

For snacks we had potato chips

That tasted like a chip.

And if you wanted flavor

There was Lipton's onion dip.

Store-bought snacks were rare because

My mother liked to cook,

And nothing can compare to snacks

In Betty Crocker's book

Weekends were for family trips

Or staying home to play.

We all did things together,

Even go to church to pray.

When we did our weekend trips

Depending on the weather,

No one stayed at home because

We liked to be together.

Sometimes we would separate

To do things on our own,

But we knew where the others were

Without our own cell phone.

Then there were the movies

With your favorite movie star,

And nothing can compare

To watching movies in your car

Then there were the picnics

At the peak of summer season,

Pack a lunch and find some trees

And never need a reason.

Get a baseball game together

With all the friends you know,

Have real action playing ball

And no game video.

Remember when the doctor

Used to be the family friend,

And didn't need insurance

Or a lawyer to defend?

The way that he took care of you

Or what he had to do,

Because he took an oath and strived

To do the best for you.

Remember going to the store

And shopping casually,

And when you went to pay for it

You used your own money?

Nothing that you had to swipe

Or punch in some amount,

And remember when the cashier person

Had to really count?

The milkman used to drive a truck

And go from door to door,

And it was just a few cents more

Than going to the store.

There was a time when mailed letters

Came right to your door,

Without a lot of junk mail ads

Sent out by every store.

The mailman knew each house by name

And knew where it was sent;

There were not loads of mail addressed

To "present occupant”

There was a time when just one glance

Was all that it would take,

And you would know the kind of car,

The model and the make

They didn't look like turtles

Trying to squeeze out every mile;

They were streamlined, white walls, fins and “skirts”,

And really had some style

One time the music that you played

Whenever you would jive,

Was from a vinyl, big-holed record

Called a forty-five

The record player had a post

To keep them all in line,

And then the records would drop down

And play one at a time.

Oh sure, we had our problems then,

Just like we do today

And always we were striving,

To find a better way.

Oh, the simple life we lived,

Still seems like so much fun.

How can you explain the game,

“Just kick the can and run?”

And all us boys put baseball cards

Between our bicycle spokes;

And for a nickel, red machines

Had little bottled Cokes?

This life seemed so much easier;

Slower in some ways.

I love the new technology,

But I sure do miss those days.

So time moves on and so do we,

And nothing stays the same;

But I sure love to reminisce

And walk down memory lane.

With all today's technology

We grant that it's a plus!

But it's fun to look way back and say,

Hey look, guys, THAT WAS US!