Joy To The World...

Recently we had a young woman sign up for a storage unit. She pretty much opened up to us and told us what was happening with her. She was a drug addict and it was obvious she was pregnant. She told us that she was getting herself ready to enter a recovery program, she was working with her bishop, and that she was ready to grow up.

She told us how much she loved her bishop and how he helped her to feel okay about her situation and the situation that she was bringing her child into. It was obviously not the ideal situation and the child was coming into the world with some potentially big problems. 

She wanted the storage so that she could start saving things up for her little one and to hold on to the few things she owned so she could enter a shelter prior to entering the recovery program. She told us that this was the first grown up thing she had ever done. 

She has stopped in every so often and each time her countenance has gotten brighter. It has been a beautiful thing to watch her as she has cleaned herself up. 

This morning she came in to communicate with us and let us know how things were going as well as pay her bill. She had an older woman with her, part of her support system from her church family. Her baby was in a car seat and covered in a blanket. She told us that she had just come from court where DCFS was reviewing her case, because of her situation they were thinking of taking custody of the child. However, they said that she was doing so well that they did not feel that they needed to take him from her. 

She uncovered her little baby, and I do mean little. Apparently he was born at 5 lbs 12 oz., he was tiny, and he was absolutely beautiful. His complexion was clean and pure and he looked so peaceful. We visited for awhile and as she was getting ready to leave, her and the older woman started to cover the child up in order to keep him warm from the cold. I am not sure what it was that suddenly hit me, but something did and I almost started blubbering like a baby. I say almost, because I kept my composure but inside I was blubbering, and when she left I had tears streaming down my face.

I got back to my desk and I started thinking about why I was so emotionally moved by this experience. I mean the child was beautiful and all, and he reminded me of my own daughter with how clear and peaceful he looked, but that wouldn't have such a powerful and profound effect as to hit me that deeply. I couldn't say what had just happened.

It wasn't until later that I realized what it was. As this young lady accepted help from the older lady there was an innocence about her that was so beautiful. Suddenly, I realized that this young woman who had lived a very rough life, had made many bad decisions, and had suffered many consequences for those decisions had received forgiveness in her heart and had become innocent. 

My heart is so full, and I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the atonement. God lives, Jesus is the Christ, and he was born in Bethlehem and died on Calvary all because he loves us, and so that he could take on our guilt that we might be declared innocent before God.

Joy to the World...Yes indeed, and hope, and love, and happiness too... 

The Trojan Horse of Addiction

Some people enjoy their addictions. They see the bars as keeping unwanted people out and all they have to do is take a sip, a hit, or a peek and they leave this cruel world behind and enter their own safe haven filled with comfort and peace. It isn't until they want to bring someone into their world and they can't that they realize the bars are not a safe haven, but a prison. It isn't until then that what they saw as a freedom becomes shackles, and what was once a dream becomes a nightmare. What they thought was peace was a Trojan horse.

The argument that you if you don't use your agency you will loose it is only one of the Adversaries biggest half truths. If you don't use your agency correctly then you will lose your freedom is the whole truth. God gives us rules not to confine us, but to keep us free. Not to imprison us, but to help us soar.

Put the Power Of God In Your Marriage

Getting married is like buying a new vehicle. The first little while you are figuring out all the funky gidgets and gadgets that you didn't realize came with the package. Once the newness wears off you start looking at the gas mileage. You take a few trips and then you add memories and the gas mileage doesn't matter. Then come the repairs and maintenance and you start saying,"Hey, I didn't know this came with the car!" Finally, once you find the right mechanic you realize this car could last forever...And your happy.

Marriage is not easy in any case, but when you bring into the marriage the desire to understand and the willingness to forgive you will have brought the power of God into your marriage. And when both of you bring that power into the marriage you can face any battle no matter how big it may be. Without that power little things can become big things and big things can get too big.


None of us enters into a marriage knowing everything about the person we are marrying. As the package is unwrapped we may find a few things that are less than flattering. In fact, we may find some things that we find down right disgusting to us. If you are married to a good person who is trying to be better, then you can work things out. It is those who feel no remorse for carrying undesirable baggage into the marriage that cause the foundation of a marriage to become unstable.


I don't blame others for giving up the battle, especially when addiction is involved. It is not an easy choice to continue standing beside someone who is caught in the web of addiction. But those who choose to fight the battle together and are successful will know no greater bond and will know no greater love, because when you go through the refiners fire together you will become one. Some manage to get there easier than others, but eventually we all have to become one or we will remain single forever, even though we are married. Sad but true, their are many a marriages stuck in the fire.

However, there is always hope once you find the right mechanic who can help restore the power of God back into the relationship. And with that hope the foundation of a kingdom can be built.

Shame Makes Us Helpless To Avoid

Shame is a string that fetters us to the stake we fear,
but feel hopeless to avoid.

Shame is an emotion we feel when we have done something dishonorable. When we ignore this emotional response and continue to participate in our dishonorable actions we begin to develop a very self destructive habit, or addiction. This addiction in the beginning could have been easily avoided had we not ignored the shame in the beginning. However, the more we feed our addiction the more it sucks the will from us to stop our actions, and shame becomes a fetter that binds us to that addiction. 

When a young elephant is captured for the purpose of enslaving it they are often tide to a small post with a rope. As a young elephant this is enough to discourage them from running away. As they grow older this massive creature could easily break the rope or possibly even pull up the post that it is bound to, but because it was conditioned early on it loses its desire try and escape. 

As human beings when we become both the hunter and the hunted we drive the stake into the ground and fetter ourselves only to find that the spirit of freedom within us begins to be awakened far too late for us to recognize what we have done to ourselves. We begin to fear the stake which we drove into the ground, because even though the string is not very strong we have become weaker than it.

Keep Life Simple Right is Right And Wrong is Wrong

The question was posed, why is it that we ask others to participate with us when we know that we are about to do something wrong? I think that man has a tendency to believe if he can persuade enough people into doing something wrong that he can make that which is wrong right.
To suppose that God will change his mind is a foolish thought indeed. God is not a respecter of people, he does not consider popularity as a determination of right and wrong.
Life really is simple. Do what is right and happiness will follow. Do what is wrong, no matter how much you want to do it, and you will sow and or reap unhappiness.

Eat Less- My Thoughts On Dieting

At the beginning of our Biggest Loser challenge. I shared my thoughts on diet and exercise. I was not a big fan of either. Rather my opinion has been if you eat less and move more you should be able begin losing weight. This experiment is an on going process, but so far I have tested my plan and found it has worked well for me.
In the process of discovery I have somewhat refined or maybe just defined what Eating Less and Moving More means to me. In this entry I am going to share my discoveries on Eating Less.
First as part of eating less means you must recognize what you are eating. Sometimes it is not what we eat for breakfast, lunch, or dinner that may be killing us. Sometimes it is the incidentals, those things you eat without even thinking about it, the pieces of candy from a candy bowl,  the snitching you do before you eat your meal. Sometimes it is the kinds of things you snack on. Some food is specifically designed to make you want to eat more. Everything adds up a little at a time. So, take an inventory of what you are eating.
Sometimes eating less means cutting your portions back from seconds and thirds to only eating one helping. I chose to use a smaller bowl and eating seconds only sometimes. I accomplished this by realizing that if I really liked something I did not have to eat it all right now. I sometimes would wait a half an hour to have my seconds. I also realized that when something tasted good leaving it in my mouth longer was more effective at satisfying my desire than eating more.  Another thing I realized was that if I liked it a lot I could either make it again or I could buy it again. It took the bite out of my desire to eat it all before it disappeared.
I also realized that if I limited what I could eat it left me feeling deprived and from previous experience that was asking for failure. If you feel guilty for cheating on your diet you are likely to drop the t off your diet and that mean killing it. Guilt is your enemy. No matter how you choose to deal with your eating you must avoid guilt at all cost. Guilt may cause you to gain 5 lbs even if your cheat was only 6oz. Realizing that your body has good craving and bad ones will help you also realize that it is not that hard to tell wish is which.
I also came to the conclusion that once I started eating less my body began to crave more good foods. I also began to look up the foods that I craved on the internet and discovered that many of the things that I was craving were foods that increased my metabolism. Higher metabolism means better calories are burned off easier. So, go on a mission of discovery. Find out about your cravings. Discover what your cravings will do for you or to you. Sweet is a powerful craving learn what you can do to satisfy that craving with good foods and you will find out that eating less is not so hard. Salty is another powerful craving that can be lessened by experimenting with herbs and spices or you can find Mrs. Dash seasonings, as well as I am sure many others. The key is you must learn to work with your cravings not against them.
Don't starve yourself. Eating less does not meaning not eating only controlling how much you eat. Plan your snacks eat slow, but eat something every couple of hours especially when you start to feel hunger. Don't let your body think it is starving, but don't think you have to eat a lot to stop feeling hungry. Eat a little then wait. Fat foods actually make you feel fuller for a longer period of time. I am finding that a small scoop of peanut butter is fairly satisfying.
If you eat for emotional comfort to deal with stress, you must understand that more than likely the reason you do not feel capable of dealing with stress is because of your eating. Comfort foods are a temporary solution for a permanent problem and in the end turns our emotional stress into physical stress as our body holds onto it.


The final thing I want to talk about is water intake. When I started my contest I drank lots of water. I used a 59oz container to measure my intake. I started out drinking almost 4 of those per day except on weekends. I found it harder to drink water on weekends because when I am not at work I do not always have immediate access to water. Water is good because it helps remove poisons released from your muscle tissue and fats cells through sweat and or urination. Drink lots of water. The bonus is that it helps you feel full faster just not for long.

Flirting With Temptation

Flirting with temptation is like seeing how close you can get to a fire before you get burned. The premise of your experiment is designed that you burn yourself. Not too smart when you look at it that way, is it?

Sometimes we have to learn the hard way, but more often than not we can look around us and make our choices based on observation. A scientist uses rats to experiment on because he knows that what he is doing could be harmful. Yet we seem to know that somethings are harmful to ourselves and we do it anyways. 

When we think we are the exception we simply become another statistic.  There are no exceptions when we deal with the devil. If we want to be the exception we should strive to be exceptional.

Knowing Your Weaknesses is a Strength

Knowing your weaknesses is a strength. Dwelling on them is a weakness. God gives us weakness that we might be humbled sufficient to realize our need for an atonement. Once we realize the need for an atonement then He can reveal the reality of Jesus Christ.

My Fish Story

It started as a simple curiosity. What would it feel like? What would it look like? What would it taste like? Why do they say it is so bad? What harm could it do, just once? Why is everyone making such a big deal out of it?
I knew in my heart that it was wrong, but that other little voice kept urging me on and I have to admit my curiosity was very strong.

I tried it, with some reservations, and thought, that wasn’t too bad, even though my spirit screamed within to stop. I didn’t get caught and I tried it again. I felt a little guilty but I justified my actions saying, “I’m not too far gone, I still feel the guilt.” Again I did not get caught, and again I justified it. I got pretty good at it and thought this isn’t really that bad. I couldn’t see what harm was being done by my “little indiscretions.” You see I minimized all my guilt until I was numb. Not that I did not feel it I just got to where I refused to acknowledge it.

As time went on I began to think that everyone could see right through me. I started pushing people away because I felt ashamed but I refused to think that I couldn’t handle the situation. I tried a number of times to stop and felt that I truly had a grip on things, but my mind was weak and I would think that I had to try it, one more time, that's all.

My guilt was changing me!

I didn’t know that I could crave something so much. I hated myself! I stopped caring about others. Not that I wanted to I just didn’t want anyone close enough to find out. I began to wonder if I could possibly love anyone. How could I do something so stupid? After all, this was ME! It seemed like it should be so easy to get out of the situation, but never had anything in my life seemed to want destroy me so badly. I wanted to blame everyone for my errors.

It wasn’t long before I would get angry and turn to my ugly corner for comfort. I gave myself freely to my weakness thinking that maybe I could escape if I got tired of it. It only got worse…


 I remembered going fishing when I was younger. Many times the fish would take the bait without the hook. The fish became more aggressive and bold taking the bait and often they were caught, but occasionally they would still get off the hook. Those that got off usually would go elsewhere for their meals. But occasionally they would stray back into dangerous waters and take the hook again.

I felt like that fish that was caught. I fought the fact, and denied that I had been caught. I even swam to the shore faster than the line was being reeled in, pretending that I was free. When the line got tight again I would fight with all my might to remove myself from the situation. I could not! I was frantic! Where could I go? Where could I hide?

I did not want anyone to see me. I was scared! I was angry with myself. I was filled with anguish and shame at the thought of what I had done, and what was going to happen to me. I wanted to cry. I felt so helpless. I felt so hopeless. I was sick. I was so embarrassed everyone could see I was caught but there was nothing they could do. Many a fish had gone before and I knew the risks. I just did not believe that I would be caught.


 I remembered seeing all the other fish that had never taken the risk and I now wished I had been like them. I realized that they were much more courageous than I. Besides what good did it do me to believe that I was the one who was being courageous by taking the risk. I would never know what it was like to have never tried. I would never know how happy I could be, had I been obedient as the other fish had been.

I began to realize that if something did not happen soon I was a goner. I was having hard time breathing already, and for the first time I felt the pain of the hook deep within my belly. I knew there was no getting out of it this time...


I was out of the water and could not breathe. I was completely removed from my environment, the environment that God had created for me.


I was in the hands of the destroyer. I was at his mercy. I don't know why I took the bait. Thinking back, it no longer looked as enticing as it had and it certainly didn’t taste as good as I thought it would. It wasn’t as exciting as I had hoped it would be. And now I was going to die.

 If only I had listened to my teachers...If only I had held my own proclaimed standards. If only… if only....

Now I have no hope. A wire runs through my gills and I am no longer my own. I belong to the destroyer. Life is draining from my soul and I am growing weak. I fight but I know it is no use. I am dying.

Not long ago, I read a story of a woman who caught a 70 lb salmon on 10 lb test line. It took a long time for her to real it in but she was able to do it. I would like to compare this to the cords (2ne. 22:26) Satan uses to catch us. We may look at the line and think how easy it would be to break that line, and it should be. But with a skilled fisher the line is not broken and by patiently wearing us down we can be brought into the keeper. It does not matter how big you are or how small the line is, avoid it. On the other hand if we understand the atonement and use it, it doesn’t matter how little we are or how strong the line is we can break it.

When we reach the stage in addiction that we are in the boat and we have lost all hope (Moroni 10: 22) it is very difficult to come back, but not impossible (Moroni 10:23).

However, there are many of you who are caught and are in a battle for your lives. If you reach out and get help you can avoid more humiliation, depression, and hopelessness. Don’t wait, it only gets harder. You see, the closer you get to the boat the less and less freedom you have. The more and more restricted you become.


Do you believe Christ? Then confess and forsake your sins. If you rationalize your own sins then Christ can not justify you. You have no authority to pardon yourself from the effects of sin. But if you believe Christ then test him. Give him your burden and see if he will not take it from you. Let your burdens be light upon his shoulders, and allow yourself to experience the fullness of the gospel of repentance. The peace and joy you will feel in knowing that you are forgiven and the effects of sin have been washed away will bring the sweetest peace you can ever know.

It is easy to say that it only affects you, especially if you believe no one else knows. You must be perfectly honest with yourself when you ask the following questions. You must ask yourself, how does this affect my family? Would I treat my family differently if I were free? How does this affect the way I look at others? How does this affect my ability to interact with others? How does this affect my relationship with God? Can I give everything to God if I am holding back?

Addiction looks easy to avoid but it sneaks up on you when you think you’re the strongest. Addiction is never what it seems. It is in the drug but it is not the drug. It is in the pornography but it is not the pornography. It is in the alcohol but it is not the alcohol. It is in the act but it is not the act. It is in our attitude but it is not our attitude. It is not bad relationships but it is in bad relationships. It can even be found in computer games. It is not anything but it could be in anything. Addiction is the hook it is not the bait.

Addiction is an emotional attachment. An emotion is like an adhesive that attaches a physical, chemical, or spiritual chain to our heart and our mind. The strength of the bond is determined by the nurture that we give it. Addiction can not be destroyed by you alone.

Addiction begins to eat at our character and erode our integrity. It makes us question our own worth, and that destroys our hope. Without hope we lose charity. Without hope and charity we fall into despair.

It requires more than we can give or take. It requires the acknowledgment of Christ and our need for his help. We must desire to have it removed, then Christ can remove it and begin the healing process. That is how Christ is our Savior.


Not very many people do absolutely evil things to start with. They do one stupid thing after another and they slowly destroy their life. Where Addiction is Fear is soon to follow. Where Fear is Faith can not enter.

“Where your treasure is, there your heart will be, also.”

To dream is to create a vision. To set goals is to create your plan. To reach your goals is to build your dream. To believe is to make your dreams come true. And to make your dreams come true is to become like God.

Feeling Strong May Be A Weakness

Sometimes when you feel the strongest is when you are the most vulnerable. Sometimes it is not the overwhelming temptations that are the hardest to resist. It is the temptation that comes when we are feeling good about our progress. 

We must enter a permanent state of humility before we can expect to be saved from our own humiliation. We must learn that our greatest strength comes as a gift from our Heavenly Father by obedience to his laws.

We Have The Power To Submit

Sometimes temptation seems like it would consume us and is greater than we think we can control, but it isn't. We have far more power than we realize. While our thoughts may run wild with temptation and it may seem our mind and body are completely out of control. Reality is this....We have the power to submit to the will of God, and in the will of God no temptation has power over us.

Sometimes Things Get Broken Beyond Repair

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. And all the kings men and all the kings horses couldn't put Humpty together again....Sometimes the decisions we make leave others broken beyond repair. Of all the slow spiritual deaths you can suffer, addictions have to be the saddest. Avoid them as if your life depended on it.

If Bad Is So Bad Then Why Does It Feel Good?

Sinning is not bad because it will feel bad when your doing it. Sin is bad because of it's consequences. This is why bad habits are hard to break. While you are sinning it may give you a rush or a feeling of euphoria followed by a sinking feeling inside. Then when we want to correct our actions it is hard because we want to think that we found happiness in the sin, but every time we sin we feel bad afterward. The longer we go the harder it is to connect the consequence with the sin. Eventually you forget that you ever felt good and good becomes bad and our natural sensors of right and wrong start going backward. Sin feels good, but it detracts you from even greater feelings and greater pleasures because it leaves you feeling unsatisfied, but willing to settle for less than your potential.

Learning To Live With The Mistakes Of Others

Sometimes in life we plan on growing strong and tall together, but along the way our dream may be broken. Sometimes it is because of what we do. Somtimes it is because of what we don't do. Othertimes it is someone else's bad decision. Whatever causes it we must not allow it to stop us from growing. Learning to adapt to the situation gives us an opportunity to breathe life into a new dream... A bigger dream.

When we learn from others though they may be dead and gone we still gain nourishment from their existence. Live as though every dream is possible if you work hard enough, just remember the biggest dream of all is love and care for your own family. Everything else is secondary and inconsequential.