Loved Visit from Tauna, Rachel, and Blair

Loved the visit from Tauna and Rachel, and meeting Blair in person!

With Blair - Sunday, August 31, 2025

(Shared from the Internet):

“What It Really Means to Be a Grandparent”

(and a Great-Grandparent)

To be a grandparent (and great-grandparent)

is to fall in love twice—

with the child you raised,

and the child they’re raising.

It’s love stretched wider,

slower,

sweeter—

with eyes that finally know

just how quickly the years slip by.

It’s holding tiny hands

that remind you of another time—

when those same little fingers

belonged to the one now called “Mom” or “Dad.”

It’s telling the same story again,

and again,

and again—

because their laughter

is the kind of music

you never want to end.

It’s carrying snacks

“just in case.”

It’s showing up early,

sitting in the front row,

clapping like you’ve waited

your whole life for this moment—

because in some ways, you have.

It’s saying yes—

to another cookie,

another chapter,

another five minutes before bed—

because now you know

how priceless

“just one more” really is.

It’s watching your baby

become somebody’s parent,

and whispering prayers over them

that sound an awful lot like the ones

you once whispered at 2 a.m.

when their fever wouldn’t break.

It’s a second chance—

to notice the giggles,

to chase the magic,

to soak in mornings

you used to rush through.

To be a grandparent

is to hold yesterday in your hands,

while planting tomorrow

in theirs.

It’s not just love.

It’s legacy.

It’s lullabies.

It’s laughter and wrinkles and wonder.

And it is, without question,

the greatest honor of all.

Secondhand Lions Movie

There’s a moment near the end of Secondhand Lions that lingers long after the credits roll. Walter, the shy, thoughtful boy played by Haley Joel Osment, sits under a Texas night sky with his aging great-uncles, Garth (Michael Caine) and Hub (Robert Duvall). What began as a tense guardianship has grown into a deep and genuine bond. In one of the film’s most moving scenes, Hub offers Walter his hard-won wisdom in a speech that’s equal parts lesson, confession, and legacy.

Hub says, “Sometimes the things that may or may not be true are the things a man needs to believe in the most.” It’s a line that speaks volumes. He’s not just talking about knights, honor, or true love—he’s talking about the beliefs that give our lives meaning. These are the values that define us, even in a cynical world that often rewards apathy over integrity.

This is where Secondhand Lions becomes more than just a charming coming-of-age tale. It transforms into a quiet anthem for purpose, honor, and hope. Hub’s words land with weight because they’re not grandiose—they’re personal. It’s the kind of truth passed down not in textbooks, but through shared moments, quiet examples, and heartfelt conviction.

What gives the film its staying power is its perfect blend of humor, heart, and myth. The wild flashbacks—duels, deserts, princesses, and lions—are larger than life, but they’re told with such affection and earnestness that you want to believe every word. Walter isn’t just hearing bedtime stories; he’s absorbing a philosophy.

At its core, Secondhand Lions is about the courage to live fully, to dream without shame, and to stand for something—even if that something is a bit fantastical. Garth and Hub may blur the line between reality and fiction, but their emotional truth is rock solid. They lived, they loved, and they never compromised who they were.

The performances make the story sing. Caine and Duvall are magnetic—gruff, funny, and deeply human. Their brotherly banter feels lived-in, real. Osment, meanwhile, anchors the film with quiet strength and emotional depth. This unlikely trio builds a family not through blood, but through story, trust, and time.

Secondhand Lions reminds us that growing up doesn’t have to mean growing cynical. We carry the legends that move us—not because they’re provable, but because they’re powerful. And sometimes, believing in the impossible is what makes life extraordinary.

The Gift of Being a Great-Grandparent

The Gift of Being a Great-Grandparent

Rachel, Blair, and Great-Grandma Narene (August 30, 2025)

We enjoyed meeting Blair today in person and love her, and we have always loved Rachel.

(Poem copied from Facebook):

I’ve worn many names in my time—

daughter, mother, grandma—

each one a chapter etched in the lines

that grace this weathered face.

But then came one I never dared to dream…

Great-Grandma.

Four syllables

that feel like sunrise

after the longest night.

To hold a baby

who holds your blood

four generations deep—

it’s like touching eternity

with wrinkled hands.

I’ve seen the world shift and spin,

watched decades change their tune.

But nothing humbles me more

than watching tiny fingers

wrap around mine—

proof that I was here,

that love outlives even time.

They won’t know my stories

the way their parents do.

But maybe

in the way their mama sings,

or the way their daddy laughs,

a part of me lingers.

And I’ll sit in this soft chair,

heart swollen with holy gratitude,

knowing…

I was given more than years.

I was given legacy.

And the eyes looking back at me

are the proof.

Story of Grandma’s Younger Days

The Story of Grandma’s Younger Days

(Not written by me, but it reminds me of the changes in my life over the years from "wearing high heels without thinking - to "honestly, comfort wins every time." And "I'm still me - the outside just changed a little."

(COPY)

Grandma loves to tell stories, and one of her favorites is about how life has changed over the years.

“In my younger days,” she says, “I weighed a little less, my tummy stayed flat, and I could wear a belted dress without a second thought. But now that I’m older, I’ve traded belts for elastic waistbands—and honestly, comfort wins every time!”

She laughs, pointing to her shoes.

“Back then I wore high heels without thinking. Now my feet have their revenge—I need shoes that are kind to me. I used to be a size seven, now I’m an eight and a half… and don’t even get me started on pantyhose! They claim to be sized by weight, but somehow when I put them on, the crotch ends up at my knees.”

Grandma adjusts her glasses.

“And these? I never needed them before, but the letters just kept getting smaller. And did I mention I’ve somehow gotten shorter too?”

Finally, she smiles.

“My hair is silver now, my skin doesn’t fit quite the same, but inside—I’m still me. The outside just… changed a little.”

Our Relationship with God - Elder Christofferson - General Conference, May 2022

A Message for Our Time  - Jabra's Gospel Thoughts

This week’s Come, Follow Me study of Doctrine and Covenants 81–83 illuminates the Lord’s covenantal promises to those who serve faithfully, even amid uncertainty. In harmony with these revelations, Elder Christofferson’s timeless message, "Our Relationship with God," invites us to examine the nature of divine trust. When blessings seem delayed or suffering persists, do we lean on conditional faith, or do we seek the Giver rather than the gifts?  

* The Folly of Finite Judgment: Job’s Humility and the Divine Tapestry

When the whirlwind of suffering stripped Job of all but his aching soul, he stood, raw and trembling, before the terrifying majesty of the Almighty. "Shall mortal clay arraign the Potter?" thundered the Voice from the storm. Here, in the ashes of Uz, we confront the first sacred paradox: that true wisdom begins when we relinquish the arrogant demand to understand and instead embrace the holy act of trusting.  

Elder Christofferson, like Elihu of old, reminds us that our vision is myopic, our understanding fragmented. The Lord’s declaration, "All things are present with me," shatters the illusion that blessings must arrive according to our mortal clocks. Like impatient children tugging at a parent’s sleeve, we mistake delayed fulfillment for divine neglect. Yet the scriptures whisper of a grander economy: Abraham waited decades for Isaac; Joseph endured betrayal and prison before deliverance; even the Son of God cried, "Why hast Thou forsaken Me?" before the resurrection dawned.  

 

* The End of Transactional Faith: From Vending Machines to Vineyards

How easily we reduce divinity to a cosmic merchant! Insert prayer, receive blessing; drop tithes into the plate, withdraw prosperity. But Christ’s parable of the vine undoes this mechanical piety: "Every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it." The Husbandman’s shears are not cruelty. They are covenant love. A vending machine dispenses candy; a vinedresser cultivates life, even when pruning wounds.  

Brigham Young’s testimony becomes our lodestar: faith anchored not in outcomes but in the knowing of Christ. Consider the three virgins who perished on Elkenah’s altar. Their reward was not deliverance but divinity. Their story, paired with Abraham’s rescue, proclaims the sobering truth: faith is not a contract for temporal safety but a surrender to eternal sanctification.  

 

* The Alchemy of Suffering: When God Seems Silent 

 "O God, where art thou?" The Liberty Jail cry echoes through every Gethsemane of the soul. Yet in that dungeon of despair, heaven whispered: "Thine adversity is but a small moment." Sister Patricia Parkinson’s blindness, Joseph’s chains, Abinadi’s flames. These are not evidence of divine absence but the refiner’s crucible. "Heavenly Father is in this with me," she testified, her words joining the chorus of martyrs and saints who learned that God’s companionship in suffering is greater than exemption from it.  

The Savior, our Advocate, stands before the Father, displaying His scars as the eternal warranty of promised blessings. His plea, "Spare these my brethren," assures us that no anguish is wasted, no tear uncollected. As gold purified seven times, we are not abandoned to the fire but refined within it. 

 

* The Sacred Invitation: Walking With God

"Rather than get angry with God, get close to God." Here lies the heart of the message: relationship over reward. To "walk with Them in the Spirit" is to exchange the ledger of demands for the liturgy of presence. Like Enoch, we are called not to negotiate with heaven but to converse with it, to let the I AM reshape our "natural man" into His likeness.  

Paul’s vision of glory "revealed in us" transforms present sorrows into seeds of resurrection. The purging vine, the refiner’s fire, the Potter’s hands. All work toward this end: that we might become "joint-heirs with Christ," our scars shining as stars in the firmament of eternity.  

* The Testimony of Trust  

Elder Christofferson’s closing whisper, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart," is the sum of all wisdom. To trust is not to comprehend but to cling; not to demand answers but to rest in the Answerer. The God who spared Isaac and abandoned Abinadi, who freed Alma and left Joseph in prison, asks only this: that we believe His heart is good even when His hand is hidden.  

So let us come, then. Not as petitioners with clenched fists, but as children with open hands. For in the end, the blessing we seek is not the gift, but the Giver; not the temporal relief, but the eternal embrace. And that is joy unspeakable.  

"Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him." (Job 13:15) 

Andrew Carnegie Chose Knowledge Over Monuments

Andrew Carnegie was one of the richest men of his time. But unlike many millionaires, he believed that dying with wealth was a disgrace.

Born in poverty in Scotland in 1835, he knew hunger and hardship firsthand. “Poverty hurts most when it is accompanied by ignorance,” he once said. And so, when fortune came to him through steel, he made a vow: his riches would serve not luxury, but knowledge.

Carnegie poured his money into a foundation that built more than 2,500 public libraries across the world—1,679 of them in the United States alone. For countless towns, it was the first time ordinary people had free access to books.

To him, reading was nourishment. “Reading should be planned like diet: it is food for the mind,” he believed. More than charity, he wanted to give people tools—keys to open doors that had once been locked to the poor.

When Carnegie died in 1919, over half of America’s public libraries bore his silent legacy. And every book opened in those libraries, even today, is another echo of the man who chose knowledge over monuments.

What You Give Will Come Back to You

At the beginning of the 20th century, a Scottish farmer was walking home when he suddenly heard cries for help coming from a swamp. Rushing toward the sound, he found a boy trapped in the mire, struggling for his life. The farmer quickly cut a branch, reached out, and pulled the terrified child to safety. The boy, soaked and trembling, thanked his rescuer but insisted he had to return home—his father would be worried.

The next morning, a fine carriage pulled up to the farmer’s humble home. Out stepped a well-dressed gentleman who asked, “Did you save my son’s life yesterday?”

“Yes, I did,” replied the farmer.

“How much do I owe you?” the man asked.

“You owe me nothing,” the farmer said firmly. “I only did what anyone should do.”

But the gentleman insisted. The farmer refused again. Then the gentleman noticed the farmer’s young son standing nearby.

“Is this your boy?” he asked.

“Yes,” the farmer answered proudly.

“Then allow me to repay you another way,” the man said. “Let me take him to London and pay for his education. If he has his father’s character, neither of us will regret this decision.”

Years later, that boy—Alexander Fleming—became the scientist who discovered penicillin.

Not long before World War II, the son of that wealthy gentleman fell gravely ill with pneumonia. His life was saved—not by wealth or status, but by penicillin.

The boy whose life was saved in the swamp had grown into Winston Churchill, the future Prime Minister of Britain.

Perhaps it was this chain of events that Churchill had in mind when he later said:

“What you give will come back to you.”

Huge Bathtub of Nero in Rome

We saw this when we were in Rome:

Huge bathtub of Emperor Nero

When you think of the Vatican Museum's most valuable treasures, your mind likely wanders to Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel frescoes or ancient sculptures. However, one of its most precious artifacts is neither a painting nor a statue, but a humble bathtub with an estimated worth of $2 billion. Grand porphyry bathtub of Emperor Nero (54-68 AD), from his Domus Aurea palace in Rome. 

The tub is roughly 7.63 m (25 ft) in radius and weighs thousands of pounds. Perched on large stone legs, it looks like a colossal birdbath. The mosaic it stands on has scenes of Neptune. This isn't just any bathtub. Commissioned by Emperor Nero in the 1st century AD, this massive basin is carved entirely from purple porphyry, a rare and coveted marble mined from a single quarry in Roman Egypt. Weighing.over 1,000 pounds, it stands as a testament to the extravagance and engineering prowess of the Roman Empire. 

A Journey Fit for an Emperor: 

The story of how this colossal tub made its way from the Egyptian desert to Rome is nothing short of epic. The porphyry blocks were painstakingly quarried, transported overland to the Nile, shipped across the Mediterranean, and finally carried to Rome - a logistical feat that contributed to the stone's astronomical value. In ancient Rome, bathing was a social activity, and the wealthy used their lavish bathing chambers to flaunt their status. Nero's porphyry basin, with its enormous size and striking purple hue, would have been the ultimate showpiece, cementing the emperor's reputation for opulence. 

The Challenge of Moving Marble:

The transportation of such massive marble pieces remains a logistical nightmare even today. The fact that Nero's bathtub has survived intact for nearly two millennia is a testament to Roman engineering and craftsmanship.

Family Memories - Shutterfly Albums

 I have a "Year In Review" book with photos and information for every year beginning in 2007 and up to the one in progress for 2025.  

The first book I made covered our time serving in Europe East Asia while living in Moscow, Russia on our mission from November 2007 to May 2009.  The second book covered the time left in 2009 after returning home from our mission.  

On our mission in Russia 

Each year after 2009, I have a Shutterfly "Year in Review" book.

I also have made Shutterfly books for some of the trips we have taken, although most of our trips are just included with some pages in the "Year in Review" book for that year.

Here are some other Shutterfly books I have made with photos:

"Family Memories 1962-1998" covering the years from when Scott was born in 1962 to when Doug graduated from high school in 1998.

"Memories Shared 1999-2006" covering the years after Doug graduated to the year we went on our mission.

"Family Reunions 1997-2013" Family Reunions

"Family Reunion at the Farm, 2017"

"2023 Family Reunion"

My Life Story

Sam's Life Story

"Christmas Memories 2011-2018"

Mary Christina Israelson Nelson - Second Wife of Chresten Nelson

A Special Friend Remembered - Jacqueline Figert Fisher

Today I appreciated seeing a post on Facebook that brought back a memory of a friendship from my days living in Mission, SD.  Jacqueline Figert's parents were the owners of the local newspaper office.  Jacqueline was a year ahead of me in school, but she was one of my best friends.  We never saw each other after she got married to Clyde Fisher (whom I didn't know) and moved to Montana.

Jacqueline (Figert) Fisher - 2023

My good friend from my school years in Mission, SD.  Her parents owned and printed the newspaper in Mission, the "Todd County Tribune," with their home an addition behind the shop on Main Street.

                            Jacqueline (Figert) Fisher - 2023

With so many years gone since we actually had seen one another, if I would pass by Jacqueline on a street somewhere without knowing she was in the area, I wouldn't even recognize her.  Yet, I still have nice memories of our friendship. (photo December 2024)

Jacqueline and I kept some communication going after I moved to Martin, and she moved to Montana.  In fact, we got connected again after Sam and I moved from Arizona back to Martin to live on the farm.  In 2012, Jacqueline had written to me to say she was coming from her home in Montana to visit her family in Mission and wondered about coming to Martin to see me.  I would have liked that, but unfortunately, we moved to Utah before the visit took place.

I am a Facebook friend with Jacqueline's daughter, Rosemary Fisher, who lives in Kalispell, Montana.  She is the owner and photographer at Rosemary Fisher Photography.  I have on occasion added a comment on one of her posts and have also asked her to pass along a greeting to her mother from me.

                    Dill Harvest 2025 (Rosemary's photos)

Clyde Fisher, (Rosemary's husband) who used to run C & J Mint Farm in Columbia Falls, gave up on growing mint in 2011 after harvesting mint for more than 30 years. Fisher said, "Didn't pay you enough to raise it." 

Fisher was on the now-defunct Montana Mint Committee through the Dept. of Agriculture . . . .

Rosemary Fisher (Jacqueline's daughter) who has a photography business in Columbia Falls, Montana. (2022)

(Years ago) Jacqueline's family in Montana with her husband Clyde Fisher and their children when they were much younger.

The Most Important But Forgotten Role of Angels.

When someone says the word “angels” immediately our minds jump to the winged angels of Hollywood or to the heavenly messengers from the scriptures and church history. The bible dictionary teaches that angels have two classes, those with resurrected bodies, and those without (spirits either not yet born, or awaiting the resurrection), it teaches that these angels are “heavenly messengers sent forth to minister to the inhabitants of the earth.”  When someone asked you, “Have you experienced the ministering of angels?” Most members would pause and need to think. They often are thinking “have I seen or heard something from an angel before?” This pause is because the most important role of angels, while taught, it is often not understood.

Angels Deliver Messages For The Holy Ghost.

Have you ever noticed how everyone in the room can say they ‘felt the Spirit’ but each person felt it differently? Have you ever wondered how the Holy Ghost, a member of the Godhead who has a spirit body, can minister to everyone in the whole world? Or have you ever wondered what Nephi meant in 2 Nephi 32:3 when he said, “Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost?” The answer to these questions is actually all the same. Angels are the messengers who convey the messages of the Holy Ghost.Nephi explained this to his brothers in 1 Ne. 17:45 when he told them that the Lord sent an angel to them who spoke unto them in a “still small voice” though they were “past feeling” and “could not feel his words.” Here are a few quotes on this topic by the prophets and apostles:

“From the beginning down through the dispensations, God has used angels as His emissaries in conveying love and concern for His children…Usually, such beings are not seen. Sometimes they are. But seen or unseen they are always near.”
Jeffrey R. Holland“The action of the angels, or messengers of God, upon our minds, so that the heart can conceive … revelations from the eternal world”

“The action of the angels, or messengers of God, upon our minds, so that the heart can conceive … revelations from the eternal world”
John Taylor (Gospel Kingdom, sel. G. Homer Durham [1987], 31).

“The ministering of angels can also be unseen. Angelic messages can be delivered by a voice or merely by thoughts or feelings communicated to the mind.”
Dallin H. Oaks

“I testify that angels are still sent to help us.”
Jeffrey R. Holland

“Most angelic communications are felt or heard rather than seen.”

Dallin H, Oaks

Elder Holland stresses this point to the Church Education System when he gave a CES Fireside and said: “May I suggest to you that one of the things we need to teach our students, and one of the things which will become more important in their lives the longer they live, is the reality of angels, their work, and their ministry: “Obviously I speak here not alone of the angel Moroni, but also of those more personal ministering angels who are with us and around us, empowered to help us, and who do exactly that. …Perhaps more of us, including our students, could literally, or at least figuratively, behold the angels around us if we would but awaken from our stupor and hear the voice of the Spirit as those angels try to speak. …I believe we need to speak of and believe in and bear testimony to the ministry of angels more than we sometimes do. They constitute one of God’s great methods of witnessing through the veil.”

Jeffrey R. Holland, “A Standard unto My People,” CES Symposium, BYU, 9 Aug. 1994, 11–13

All these quotes and teachings are clear, over the pulpit and just make sense! Add to the fact that everything in the church is done via delegation; IE Heavenly Father created the world through Jesus Christ. It just makes sense that the Holy Ghost, who has a spirit body and can only be at one place at a time, uses angels to minister and deliver messages to people all over the world. And the fact that those angels are unique individuals who are custom delivering their messages easily explains a possibility as to why we all feel the same Spirit differently.  But more important than how the message is delivered is the fact that we have the gift of the Holy Ghost to receive messages!

The Keys of The Ministering of Angels

The Aaronic Priesthood “holds the keys to the ministering of angels” (D&C 13:1). But unless you understand that the ministering of angels is one of the main ways that we can feel the Spirit, that makes little sense. However, once you understand the connection between feeling the Spirit and the ministering of angels, then you can finally realize the link: The Aaronic Priesthood administers the Sacrament. The Sacrament cleanses us, renew our covenants, and to enable us to “may always have his Spirit to be with [us]” (D&C 20:77). aka the Sacrament is the key to having the Spirit in our lives. Therefore the Aaronic Priesthood holding the key to the sacrament means they also hold the key to the ministering of angels! President Oaks taught this clearly when he said: “Those who hold the Aaronic Priesthood open the door for all Church members who worthily partake of the sacrament to enjoy the companionship of the Spirit of the Lord and the ministering of angels.”

Who Are The Angels?

Once you realize the simple truth that the majority of the time we are feeling the Spirit that the message is being delivered by an angel, the next question becomes:  “Who are the angels who minister to me?” The answer once again is simple and just makes sense! The angels who minister to us, are those who are concerned with our welfare, IE Ancestors who have a vested interest that we are worthy and do their work, or descendants who have a vested interest that we make and keep temple covenants so that they can be born into the covenant.

President Joseph F. Smith gave us some insight about angels who minister to those on the earth: “When messengers are sent to minister to the inhabitants of this earth, they are not strangers, but from the ranks of our kindred, friends, and fellow-beings and fellow-servants. The ancient prophets who died were those who came to visit their fellow creatures upon the earth … In like manner our fathers and mothers, brothers, sisters and friends who have passed away from this earth, having been faithful, and worthy to enjoy these rights and privileges, may have a mission given them to visit their relatives and friends upon the earth again, bringing from the divine Presence messages of love, of warning, or reproof and instruction, to those whom they had learned to love in the flesh.” (Gospel Doctrine, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1970, pp. 435–36. bold and italics added)

Within Family History the notion that our ancestors are helping us is commonly talked about and accepted, but it applies outside Family History also. My Mission President once told us, “No one joins the church without their ancestors helping them.” It just makes sense! If their ancestors have accepted the gospel on the other side, then they are the ministering angels who have a vested interest in making sure one of their descendants joins the church and does their work. Who better to delegate the task of delivering a prompting to than someone who deeply cares about the person?

Direct Access To The Godhead.

Whereas prayers are often answered via ministering angels, it is vital to understand that we do not need to petition an angel, pray to a statue or cross, or even a saint to intervene on our behalf! We have Jesus Christ, the great intercessor, mediator, and advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ commanded us to “pray unto the Father in my name” (3 Nephi 18:19) and implores us to “Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him” (D&C 45:3 ). Because He is our advocate. Yes, He may delegate tasks to others, but the task of being our advocate is one task that can not be delegated.

“The Savior forgives, heals, and advocates. He is our helper, consoler, and intercessor—attesting to and vouching for our reconciliation with God.” Dale G. Renlund

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