November 28, 2011
All my life I have been aware of just how mortal I am. When I was about eight years old we lived in Concho. This was the little community in Northeastern Arizona. I have shared details about Concho with you in other letters. My good friend Charles Mccullough was just my age and we did lots of things together. You might recall that he had a younger sister and then a younger brother who had an extremely serious illness which left him unable to do more than breathe on his own. His father was a farmer in Hunt, a series of ranches and farms about six miles Northwest of Concho on the way to Holbrook. One day I was riding into town with Charlie and Mrs. Mccullough in their “model A” coupe and I made some obnoxious eight year old comment about how slow the car was going. Charlie’s mother slammed on the brakes and said, if this car isn’t good enough for you, just get out and walk. I didn’t get out; didn’t say a word and we came on into town without another word being said by anyone. All these years later I still feel bad about making her life a little worse than it already was. She had the world on her back with problems I still can’t comprehend and I simply made matters worse. I needed to apologize. I needed to repent and do something to restore her frail existence from the harm I had done. I never did. Now, over six decades later, I still lament my childish nonsense and wish I could take it back.
Today in Sunday school we discussed Peter, Chapters one and two from the New Testament. In Second Peter 1:2– 13 No scripture or temporal writing is more clear. God has given us, “all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of him who has called us to glory and virtue.” Can we go back and correct the foibles of our youth, or even yesterday. No, but we can repent, ask for forgiveness, and do everything in our power to avoid going back to that ugly place we are so desperately attempting to escape. Now, as to forgiveness we have also been given clear sailing instructions regarding our responsibility to allow people to move forward in their lives. Our Savior has instructed us that our responsibility is to forgive always. He will forgive, who he will. My first weekly letter shared a thought from an LDS Apostle, saying in essence, let it go. Forgive and move on with our lives. Wasting time hating, fighting, arguing, ignoring, or inciting, simply uses up our only source of energy - life itself.
We all need to play nice and do all we can to build up, to comfort, to share, to bless the lives of others through deeds of kindness and sharing, through charity, the pure love of Christ.
God bless you as you seek out those in need of a pat on the back, a good meal, a friendly smile, an opportunity to enjoy peace in their live through some small gesture by you. When God shares with us that we are to look out for “even the least of these”, he really means it.
Grandpa Duane Jacobs, Grandpa, friend, cousin, uncle, popsa, etc.
NOTE: I have created a blog named Grandpa Duane Jacobs and have placed most, or all of these weekly notes on it for anyone who would care to see them. dj

November 28, 2011
All my life I have been aware of just how mortal I am. When I was about eight years old we lived in Concho. This was the little community in Northeastern Arizona. I have shared details about Concho with you in other letters. My good friend Charles Mccullough was just my age and we did lots of things together. You might recall that he had a younger sister and then a younger brother who had an extremely serious illness which left him unable to do more than breathe on his own. His father was a farmer in Hunt, a series of ranches and farms about six miles Northwest of Concho on the way to Holbrook. One day I was riding into town with Charlie and Mrs. Mccullough in their “model A” coupe and I made some obnoxious eight year old comment about how slow the car was going. Charlie’s mother slammed on the brakes and said, if this car isn’t good enough for you, just get out and walk. I didn’t get out; didn’t say a word and we came on into town without another word being said by anyone. All these years later I still feel bad about making her life a little worse than it already was. She had the world on her back with problems I still can’t comprehend and I simply made matters worse. I needed to apologize. I needed to repent and do something to restore her frail existence from the harm I had done. I never did. Now, over six decades later, I still lament my childish nonsense and wish I could take it back.
Today in Sunday school we discussed Peter, Chapters one and two from the New Testament. In Second Peter 1:2– 13 No scripture or temporal writing is more clear. God has given us, “all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of him who has called us to glory and virtue.” Can we go back and correct the foibles of our youth, or even yesterday. No, but we can repent, ask for forgiveness, and do everything in our power to avoid going back to that ugly place we are so desperately attempting to escape. Now, as to forgiveness we have also been given clear sailing instructions regarding our responsibility to allow people to move forward in their lives. Our Savior has instructed us that our responsibility is to forgive always. He will forgive, who he will. My first weekly letter shared a thought from an LDS Apostle, saying in essence, let it go. Forgive and move on with our lives. Wasting time hating, fighting, arguing, ignoring, or inciting, simply uses up our only source of energy - life itself.
We all need to play nice and do all we can to build up, to comfort, to share, to bless the lives of others through deeds of kindness and sharing, through charity, the pure love of Christ.
God bless you as you seek out those in need of a pat on the back, a good meal, a friendly smile, an opportunity to enjoy peace in their live through some small gesture by you. When God shares with us that we are to look out for “even the least of these”, he really means it.
Grandpa Duane Jacobs, Grandpa, friend, cousin, uncle, popsa, etc.
NOTE: I have created a blog named Grandpa Duane Jacobs and have placed most, or all of these weekly notes on it for anyone who would care to see them. dj

11/13/20011

Today, we sat in the midst of angles. We sang with them. We listened to their thoughts. We pondered the very purpose of life. Jean and I have had the privilege of teaching the seven year olds in primary this past year and today was the culmination of those activities with a presentation that shared the most touching, spiritual thoughts humans can consume.
Little tiny children (we call them sunbeams) exploding with energy, hardly able to sit for a moment without waving to parents, squirming in their seats, or poking another child just to make sure everything was okay. Then, as if by magic they would each share their thought (well, most of them anyway). For the better part of an hour, these children made us all go back to our earliest times on earth and understand just a little better, the love our Heavenly Father has for each of us. Almost inconceivably, sixty eight years have passed in my life, with experiences filling the full range of expectations, from purely childish adventure, through illness and the passing of loved ones, and on to eternal marriage, children, grandchildren, and spiritual maturity – an incredible knowledge of God the Father, his Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost.
Any group of children includes the standard number of really sharp children who are the bright, leading stars; the average children who make us the vast numbers who work real hard to keep up and be on the team; the youngsters who have a difficult time sharing their thoughts because of slowness of speech, limited mental capacity, or because they are late bloomers. Then, there is a very special group; those children, who will probably never fully function in society as others. Down syndrome, muscular dystrophy, alcohol syndrome, and a legion of other maladies find their way into homes of every ethnic, social, and spiritual brand and make no pretense of apology. They simply exist. I have been privileged to be very close to many such Children of our Heavenly Father. They are not mistakes.
They are the very essence of our existence. The only mistake made is when we ignore, snub, bully, or in any other way, do physical, spiritual, or mental harm to these select spirits. We will all go through the refiner’s fire and the books will be opened and we will see the hurt, the sadness, and the torment we have caused, “even the least of these” and we will pay dearly for our irreverence to God’s chosen. I believe these children were so valiant in the pre-existence that they needed only to come to earth to gain a body and to assist God in helping each of us reach our highest potential. I watched this morning as one little boy, unable to eat normally, to stand, talk, or otherwise function like you and I, was held by a beautiful primary leader through a significant part of the program. This little boy, looked adoringly into the eyes of this sweet sister. I complimented her on being so strong and caring for her son. It was then that I began to understand the true meaning of the Pure Love of Christ. She said, “oh, he isn’t my son. I am just holding him for his mother so she can participate in her church activities.”
Another girl who does not regularly participate came yesterday for the practice and today for the program. Having very little understanding of the what, why, where, and how’s of participation, she was quite lost and distressed. My sweetheart, swung into action, treated her like a queen, expected her to act like a queen, and brought out the very best in this marvelous child.
May we all seek out those in need. Go back and read the Words of Christ and become converted to the Love of God.
God bless you in every aspect of your life.
Duane Jacobs, Grandpa, popsa, uncle, cousin, and friend

November 6, 2011
This week was an incredible blast from the past. Yesterday I visited with two older gentlemen who claim to be part of my Scottsdale High school history. They can’t possibly be because they said it was fifty years ago that I graduated and there is no way that is true. Do the simple math and you will see that I would need to be 68 years old, that I graduated in 1961, taught for forty years, spent four years in the US Navy, married over 46 years ago, and have six children and twenty six grandchildren. Add to that an incredible woman who has stood by my side all these years through feast and famine, three degrees, numerous foster children, nieces and nephews, strays, businesses of all sorts, and physical ailments of all types and you get someone else. Seriously, Doug Austin and Joe Richardson really were a significant part of my teen years. They are part of the P.L. Lawrence and (can’t remember the first name) Montana, blue 50 Ford made into a Baja buggy era. Most of our lives have been lived between the book ends of 1961 and Scottsdale Beavers and today. Add to that group, Ted Day, another high school friend, now living in Tennineo, Washington and one could tell stories all day about lives, challenges, mistakes, opportunities, and blessings.
Time flies so make the very best of every day. I have been trying to fill my mind with positive, spiritual thoughts to help erase, or at least dim some of the disturbing things that I have put in it over the last 68 years. If I get to sounding preachy it is because that is exactly what I mean to do. If I can save one person from repeating one of the dumb things I did, I will feel justified.
Here is an example of what not to do. This was back in the Scottsdale era. Several of us found a way to enter the old Scottsdale church through an open vent up on the roof. We thought this was so cool because we were able to go undetected on several such excursions. I am not sure what was so spectacular about being up there except that it was against the rules. The last time we went in, one of us (I recall that it was me) slipped and put a hole in the ceiling. It didn’t take long for the bishopric to figure out who had done it and soon enough they were knocking at my door and I was down at the church helping to fix the problem. That goofy stunt could have cost me my life and for what? Just to prove that we were nutty kids egging each other on to do things which were against the rules.
When you want to sass your mother, watch a tv show that has lots of violence and swearing in it, play video games that make a game of killing other humans, pocketing something from a store that isn’t yours, remember that these things will be in your mind long after you have garnished any miniscule pleasure from the act.
God bless you in your efforts to be strong in your commitment to live Christ-centered lives and share your blessings with others.
GPA Duane Jacobs, friend, uncle, grandfather, popsa, cousin
Note: Two blogs that I am aware of include my own – Grandpa Duane Jacobs; and John and Sue Laing – 2 Laings (John and Sue Laing are contemporaries, now serving an LDS mission in the Freburg LDS Temple. Also, Stu Morris (another Scottsdale 1st ward friend) and his wife just left for their mission.

October 30, 2011
It is hard to raise kids. It was difficult when I was I was a boy; however, now it is almost impossible. After a wonderful primary program at Diane’s (our oldest daughter) where their two youngest (who happen to be boys) had sung their hearts out about all things spiritual, we went their house and began the ritual of trying to determine what can/should/must be done to keep the Sabbath holy. After a rhetorical comment/question by Diane about what we did when our four boys were young, we hummed and hawed and muttered something about getting through it. I attempted to answer but was caught up in try to make sense out of my own thoughts and really didn’t give the topic a meaningful answer.
This may make no sense at all, but it is the best I seem able to do. The answer goes to the root of the challenge; namely, why are we trying to do what “everybody” else can’t seem to do, has given up, or simply doesn’t believe is important? Because we care and because we have the framework of the Gospel to provide us with compelling evidence that our role in raising children is the second most important thing we, as mortal parents do while on this earth. We have been told that the first and great commandment is to love God; the second is like unto it to love our neighbor as ourselves. Simply put, if we love someone (including our self) we will do whatever is necessary to provide a solid structure in the home in which they can grow and find their personal awareness of God and our purposes on this earth.
Translating this to semi-logical English goes something like this.
Create an environment in which there is no doubt that you love your spouse, your children, your family, and God
Choose your battles carefully. Once a friend told me that sometimes people stand up so straight they fall over backwards. If you compel in all things you are not following the precepts of God. We all have our own agency and need to be able to see the results of our actions – both good and bad.
Design an atmosphere in which each person has an opportunity to share his or her talents. I could never throw a ball, but I could wrestle and tackle. Remember! Boys are just young men. They begin getting these weird hot flashes in their brains and other parts of their bodies long before they have any idea how to control, much less use them. It is kind of like the idiot savant that can’ tie his shoe, but can run a rubix cube in 29.2 seconds. Time takes care of most of these problems, but a caring mom and dad that are there to help explain what is going on with the hair in strange places, the smell, and the thoughts can go a long way to helping children reach manhood without permanent mental and physical scars. Your husbands/dads can explain some of these alligators to you.
Package things in the same way food is packaged. In many cases the biggest cost and the most important element is selling a concept, food, medicine, or life plan is in how it is presented. Once, a young family had to sit in front of the church congregation and make a presentation showing how their family put together a family home evening. One of the boys, about nine, was simply not having any of it. The mother was sure to have thought that she should take Samuel Clements’ humorous advice and placed the boy in a large pickle vat until he was about fifteen, then plugging up the holes. Instead each time he would pass gas, roll his eyes, lounge down almost slumping to the floor, or any of ten thousand other things boys can do to make their parents completely irrational, she would simply stare at him with this pleasant, big cheesy grin until he completed his exercise in futility. Then, they would go on with the presentation. It worked. It may even work again. In other words be consistent. Kind of like playing “chicken” when you have all the cards.
Well, I believe that is enough unsolicited advice for now. As Grandmother Stanley said as we sat around the table in this conversation, they grow up so fast and then we are all alone again.
God bless you in all your efforts to love, to give, and to serve
GPA Duane Jacobs, friend, uncle, cousin, grandfather, brother, and fellow child of our Heavenly Father.
Note: That friend’s name was Sharon Johns. She was one who really gave her all to be a Chritian and to love god, neighbor and self. Dj

10/23/2011
This is about a true hayseed moving to the big city of Mesa, Arizona from Concho, Arizona. I was in fifth grade then, so I was eleven. Mother had asked dad to move us to the city so we could get some of the opportunities in education and future life experiences that Concho simply didn’t have. Somehow dad traded the white house in Concho for a house on a long, lean strip of a lot at 1056 E. 6th Avenue in Mesa and we were off to the races as big city folks.
We traded a school in Concho with two classrooms, first to fourth in one and fifth to eighth in the other for, in my case, as single school for the fifth grade with ten thousand classrooms, or so it seemed. I began to recognize that we were “different” when my teacher asked me to step out of the room and stand in the hall for a moment. Not wishing to miss anything I listened as she told the rest of the students to knock off the nasty comments and play nice with me. I didn’t know we were financially poor, and looked like we just came out of last the century. I didn’t know that being a left-handed, studdering, “Mexican”, from the sticks was all that serious of an offense. But, then I really didn’t know enough to even know that I was being talked about, or made the blunt of crude, childish jokes and pranks.
Two very positive things come from this story. The first is that this wonderful teacher, Mrs. Cheeney was kind enough to see a problem, reach down and help someone up the ladder of life. The second came a few weeks later. I remember like it was yesterday that we were sitting in chairs like we have in the choir loft, only wood with no soft cushions and a teacher was trying to get us to learn the beautiful song, America the Beautiful. The kids like any normal gangly group of eleven year olds, were off in their own worlds and not really interested in learning much of anything. We were getting really tired and I put my head forward to rest a bit when this warm, sweet little blond girl, named _______ Ellsworth, put her hand on my head gave me a sweet rub. Without saying anything in words she conveyed a feeling that all was well and that she didn’t think I was all that bad.
I took those two experiences with me to the classroom for my future years as a student and as a teacher. Today in our Sunday school class of seven and eight year olds, we talked about being pure, as in “pure in heart.” Grandmother Jacobs and I try, each week, to follow the example of Mrs. Cheeney and the sweet blond Ellsworth girl and seek out those who may need a small hand up. This work that we are all vested in as mortals is about a single thing. Our sole job in this earthly realm is to follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit and reach out of our comfort zone to help those who are least able to help themselves. We promised God we would do our best so we could return to his presence. This is the example our Savior gave us to follow. Every act he did was to give us comfort and assurance. His final act on the earth gave us the atonement for our sins and the opportunity for all mankind to have eternal life. As we share our lives with others, may we be a positive influence on the lives of all those with whom we come in contact.
God bless you in all your worthy efforts.
GPA Duane Jacobs, friend, grandpa, uncle, cousin, popsa, etc.

October 15, 2011
Surprise!! This is Saturday, not Sunday. Grandmother and I have been on the road for the last ten days. What a hoot. Our job on this trip is to figure out what we are going to do for the next 20, or so years, or until we get twinkled. The options are endless; the only thing that is verboten (I threw my vast knowledge of German for Sue Laing) is doing nothing. One of the most intriguing contrasts between working and playing (being retired) is how time is organized. We really don’t have to do anything, so there can be nothing scheduled. If there is nothing scheduled, or aspired to, nothing gets done, and we live with no growth, no learning, and no progression. Eons back I was given a card with the, famous “end of the trail” picture on it. The drawing is of an American Native on horseback, a spear in the back, a huge canyon drop-off in front of him, with head hanging down, and virtual certainty of impending death. Paraphrasing, the frame is appropriately tltled, when there are no dreams, life ends.
Grandmother and I have seen thousands of wonderful human beings live their lives half-way. A young couple from Florida spend about a year and a half as part of our wildly extended family. He had been in prison for all kinds of things, the most offensive, He was selling poison in the form of drugs to children. He and his wife had four children with another on the way. Because she was a drug addict, she showed positive for drugs and the new baby was taken away at birth, only to be returned after months of proving that she was “clean”. No sooner than they got the baby back, they began another baby, lost her job under suspicious circumstances, lost his job under similar conditions, and ended up going back to Florida, only to repeat the cycle again. I could fill books with stories of individuals who have fallen off the strait and narrow and wandered through life without purpose and without hope, but you get the picture.
We need to learn from these individuals and avoid the pitfalls they have shown us. Those who are younger than me –which now tends to be almost everyone – can appreciate the gravity of leaving the Iron rod (The word of God) and wandering through the dark and dreary mists (the confusion and embarrassments of standing tall) and encouraging others to follow. Not long ago, somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 years, I watched as one after another of my fine friends in the Navy would go out into the mist, get drunk, get venereal disease, fill their lungs with poison gasses, and generally deny all that their parents had shared with them that was good. I assure you that is much easier in the short run, to follow the crowd than to hold on to the Word of God.
It was especially difficult for me because I didn’t have a firm foundation in spirituality. One day in Sasebo Japan, Dault Martin said, “Jake”, you need to have a beer. It won’t hurt you and it will make you feel like a man to experience what it can do for you. He bought on and put it in front of me. Weak as I was, I tried it. The best of luck (remember the Holy Ghost) was that I couldn’t stand the taste of it. To me it tasted like brine water. End of that challenge? No, not really. There were similar challenges with tobacco, with hard liquor, with tempting young ladies flaunting the bodies and asking to be used “for a price”. I must have been a terrible pain to the “spirit” assigned to me because he always had to bring me up short. I was able to move through the word of wisdom and sexual temptations without being scarred for life. I never had sexual relations until I met and married grandmother Jacobs. I was not so fortunate in the word of wisdom department and was reminded of that recently when a nurse in a sleep study facility asked me if I had “ever” smoked. I said yes, fifty years ago and she sighed and said, Yes, many tell me that they had the same problem during their military service. Up shot. Just leave that junk alone.
God gave life so we might experience JOY. Joy comes through doing the will of our Father in Heaven. Live close to the spirit, love your family, look out for those who are less fortunate than you, forgive those who do things to harm you.

October 9, 2011
November 9, 2011 will be the fifty year anniversary of my enlistment in the US Navy. I was eighteen, weighed 165 pounds, had dark brown hair and an urge to see what life was all about. During my four-year enlistment I learned:
I had a brain and I could actually learn and enjoy it.
God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are the most important part of my life.
Who my best friend and eternal mate would be.
Why we are here as mortals, and
Why we all have unique, crafted challenges, illnesses, handicaps, mental capabilities, and desires – both good and bad.
Today, I shared this anniversary note in a testimony meeting in St. George, Utah, giving tender thanks to our dear friends, Howard and Cathy Shaffer. They have been with us since the very beginning of our wild and venturous time as team Jacobs. It was Howard who invited me to Church meetings on the USS Hornet while during our two Westpac tours and helped me build a budding testimony of Jesus Christ. He also gave me an invitation to his wedding reception to Cathy Shaffer, my bride’s double cousin. I was late to the reception and just about missed it, but thanks to Cathy’s very “organizing” mother, I was soon moving through the reception line.
I passed through the line and saw an old friend from the Long Beach First Ward, Linda something, or other. I mentally noted that she had nudged (shoved) Jean so hard she almost flew out toward me, saying something like, I know him, he’s single. I really thought she was about sixteen until I walked around with her for a few minutes looking at wedding gifts and wondering what had just run over me. When we got over to her parents, the Holy Ghost (always looking after me) told me that I needed to make sure I followed up on this golden opportunity. She must have liked me a little because she invited me to go chase to bride and groom. The next week I took her to a young married activity in Palm Springs with Harold and Lucille Blevins. We must have looked like we belonged to each other because one of the men began visiting with us and asked how long we had been married. When told that this was our first date, he said, “why, he double toothpicks, I thought you was married.”
A month later, I asked your mother, grandmother, aunt, friend and the love of my life if she would marry me in the Temple of Our Lord. She agreed and eleven months later on May 1, 1965 we went through this marvelous experience and began our lives together. We have had the opportunity of seeing each of the five elements I found in the Navy become integral parts of our eternal friendship. We have been professional educators for forty years, gained bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees, enjoyed raising six children, watching the next generation raise twenty six grandchildren, go through several decades of helping people - strangers and family alike – through giving them a place to live, something to eat, a thought of hope and encouragement, a chance to see spirituality in their lives, and a friend.
I owe everything I have, have done, or will do, to my Heavenly Father and my eternal bride. Without God I am no more than the dust of the earth. Without my bride, Jean, I am some inept, wanderer, in the bowels of the confusion and lower life activity that prevails in most arenas on the planet.
So for the record we were all given a mind, we all serve God the Father, we all need to have those special people around us that we call family, we were placed on this earth to be tested (we told God that we could do what he asked of us and we are here to prove it to ourselves) and gain our temporal tabernacle; so we could understand what our limitations, handicaps, life duration, and other life ingredients have to do with our eternal progress. Do we understand why people get cancer; why people do bad things; why some people have, “all the luck”; or why our lives are as they are? No, but we do know that God has blessed each of us with the exact special lives we need accomplish the challenges and opportunities we are given.
God bless each of us as we go through our incredible unique lives.
Gpa Duane Jacobs
Grandpa, pop, friend, uncle, cousin, and all else.

November 20, 2011
Today I had the opportunity of participating in an LDS Church ordination for our grandson James Taylor Wright. He is a marvelous young man and has gone through the process which God shared with us in James 1:5, in which he tells us that if we ask him, with a sincere heart, nothing wavering, he will give us the knowledge we need to create our own, personal testimony of the existence of God, the Love God has for us, and how we can best serve in His Kingdom on earth. Each of us, whether Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Buddist, or any other faith that has as its basic tenant, the acknowledgement of an Eternal Heavenly Father that loves us; that created us; that wants us to love one another and to love Him by following his commandments will have a certain set of directions for receiving a testimony of Him who created us.
For me this process began when I was sixteen – Taylor’s age. I didn’t have a solid understanding of who I was, or what I could do in my life, much less a clear understanding of diety. My search began in earnest by attempting to go to the LDS Church and learn about Jesus Christ, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost. I can remember the first time I shared a public testimony was in youth group at the Chapel in Scottsdale. It was very brief and I really don’t remember what I said. I do, however, remember the peaceful feeling I had as I went back to my seat. I felt as if I had actually made a giant step forward in assessing and pursuing a direction in which I would attempt to build on those feelings; thus, understanding my spiritual self better.
Over fifty years have come and gone and with those years I found myself to be very, very mortal. I have slipped and fallen off the path with the Iron rod on occasions too numerous to list or remember. For anyone interested in finding their personal salvation or peace, may I suggest that you go to your clergy and to God and ask what it is that you believe and how you can search out the basic principles and ordinances of your chosen religion? Your testimony and faith must and will come from God, but you must know what you believe in and you must then that knowledge to God and do as is outlined in James 1:5. For me, the stubborn one, I had to take one thing at a time, follow the commandment, or use the principle, and test myself at each juncture, building my testimony and personal knowledge of God the Father and Jesus Christ through this process. I went through tithing and offerings, fasting, prayer, more prayer, pondering the scriptures, the Sacrament, the Atonement, life, crucifixion, of Jesus Christ, the very opportunity to be on this earth in a home where Christianity was understood, and forgiveness of our sins. I began to understand the Priesthood of God, blessings, ordinances, temple endowments, sacrifice, death, eternal life and exaltation, and many, many more.
I once heard an elder in the LDS church state that he would soon kneel at the feet of Jesus Christ and the books of life would be opened, and that his knowledge of God and all things relative would be no greater than it was at that moment in his mortality. When our savior was on this earth he gained knowledge and wisdom in his early years. Certainly he was light years ahead of my puny growth and knowledge. I am still learning and trying to understand. I am still pondering the scripture and all of the magnificent blessings I have received in my life, but I now know that my life has been blessed and protected for the specific purpose of assisting others in their temporal and spiritual affairs in any way that he shares with me through the Holy Ghost. It is my pleasure to consecrate all that I have, talents, energy, material wealth, and anything else to the building up of the Kingdom of God on the Earth.
Please understand, we all have our path to create. For each of us it will be different, but it is incumbent on each of us to seek out the path that leads us to peace within ourselves and a God centered life. These suggestions were based on my beliefs and testimony. Seek out the truths in your spiritual community and build a testimony on them through God.