Immunizations and me

I would like to give you my experience with immunizations. I could start with my own immunizations and then add to it with experience I have had in my medical practice.

I grew up in a time when we did not have the number of immunizations that we do at the present time. As a consequence, I had the diseases of measles, mumps, German measles, whooping cough and chicken pox. These were not pleasant diseases to have and they had some serious consequences. As an example, my grandfather’s brother got measles when he was about four years of age and lost his hearing and was deaf the rest of his life.

Smallpox was the disease that caused serious and fatal consequences. For example, the death rate for un-vaccinated people who got smallpox was 53%. This disease occurred in my mother's family and my aunt Mabel carried the scars on her face to her grave. Fortunately, she did not die or did not have any other serious consequences. While we are on the subject of smallpox, I got my smallpox vaccination and still carry the scar. The last case of documented smallpox in the United States was in 1949. I vaccinated patients in my practice for smallpox until 1972 after I was eight years in practice. This disease had been declared conquered but the World Health Organization. Therefore, there is no ongoing smallpox vaccination in the world. The virus still exists in laboratories and in England in 1978 a lady died after having been exposed to the virus in the laboratory.

Whooping cough (pertussis) is a serious disease especially in young children and infants. There is a vaccine for whooping cough, and it is readily available. In 2019 there were 10,000 cases of whooping cough in California and visitors carried the disease back to Utah and Wyoming and resulted in a number of school closings to individuals who were not immunized. The original vaccine was called DTP.  This vaccine was prepared using whole cell extracts of the bacteria.  It worked well on children, but when it was given to adults it caused some problems and was modified to change the whole cell Pertussis to an acellular vaccine and it is now known as Tdap. The protection from the Diphtheria and Tetanus components of this vaccine last 10 years.  The Pertussis immunity starts to wane at about 3 years and is pretty well gone by 5 years.  This vaccine is usually given to pregnant women to assure the newborn infant of immunity until the vaccine is given to him. There were 111 deaths reported in infants under 3 years of age in the US from 2004 to 2008. My experience in the first years of practice with this disease was memorable.  I had a number of young patients who had not been immunized that ended up in the hospital in what we called croup tents with oxygen and on antibiotics for sometimes up to 2 weeks.  I was fortunate to have not had any of them die.  Most of these parents did not have insurance at the time and were saddled with medical bills.

Tetanus or as it is known in lay terms, lockjaw. I saw a case when I was an intern at the Dee memorial hospital in Ogden in about 1962.  This man cut himself with his pocketknife and then got symptomatic and came into the emergency room.  The diagnosis was made, and he almost died, but recovered.  He had neglected to get a Tetanus shot.  My great grandfather was a bronc buster and was kicked in the head by a horse.  Both eyes came out of their sockets and rested on his cheeks. They were replaced and he did not lose his vision but got Tetanus as a result. A priesthood blessing allowed him to live, marry and have children.

Diphtheria was epidemic in the late 1800s (1880) in Utah. 749 lives were lost because of poor hygiene among midwives.  My second great grandfather lost a number of his family in this epidemic. One can see their graves in the Tooele cemetery.  President Spencer W. Kimball held his sister in his arms when she died of the disease.  While on our mission we visited a hospital in the Ukraine where they had two patients on ventilators with Diphtheria. 

Polio was known in my day as infantile paralysis.  When I was in Denver (1945-1949), they did not have an immunization for the disease.  We were not allowed to go the public swimming pool, because they felt that you could get the disease there.  The first vaccine was known as the Salk vaccine.  It was an injectable vaccine and was introduced in 1953 (a year after I graduated from high school).  Not everyone got the vaccine, because I took care of a patient in the County Hospital during my training when he was in an iron lung. His diaphragmatic muscles were paralyzed, and he could not breath on his own. In 1962 the oral (Sabin) vaccine came out.  It was dropped onto a sugar cube and administered that way. My wife and children and I at the time got our polio immunizations that way.  There were three different strains, so one would have to get all three to be protected.  Later they came out with a trivalent oral vaccine so that only required one dose and then a second, because sometimes Type 2 strain did not provide complete immunity from the first dose of the trivalent vaccine.  I met Dr. Sabin when I was in my training when he came to Utah to lecture. While I was an intern, I took care of a patient at the Dee Hospital who had polio.  I was told that that was the last reported case of polio in Utah. I continued to give oral polio vaccine until it was determined that the young people who got the oral vaccine were transmitting the live virus to older adults who were not immunized and then they became ill.  Now we give the IPV (Salk) vaccine at 2, 4, 6 months of age with a booster at 4-6 years of age.  Missionaries going to areas of the world where polio is endemic will receive a booster prior to their departure.

Hepatitis

There are 2 major types A and B.  Type A is called infectious hepatitis or yellow jaundice.  I have taken care of a number of patients in my practice who have had this disease.  For a number of years there was no vaccine. The missionaries who would go to South America before the vaccine came out would get gamma globulin injections every 6 months to protect them from the disease until the vaccine came out for Hepatitis A in 1995. We received this vaccine when we went to Russia in 2001. It requires two injections 6 months apart. It is also available in a combination A and B called TwinRix. There have been recent cases in Utah of this disease. Hepatitis B is a disease transmitted from person to person by injections or very close personal contact. It came out in 1982 and in1991 was recommended for all infants and most pediatricians will give it to them.  When we were in Frankfurt two missionaries from Russia were robbed and injected with the same needle by the intruders to sedate them.  We evacuated them to Germany and started the Hepatitis B vaccines and sent them home to be treated for possible HIV.

MMR (Measles, Mumps and Rubella or German measles)

Measles vaccine in 1963, Mumps vaccine in 1967, Rubella vaccine in 1969 and the combination MMR in 1971.  I immunized all my patients when the vaccine came out.  I did not need it, because I had the disease. I have had patients who have had mumps and the complication in males of mumps orchitis (infection of the testicle resulting in sterility).  

Chickenpox (Varicella)

I had chickenpox as well as all of my children with no complications. When I was at the county hospital in Salt Lake in my training, I had a patient die of chickenpox.  I had two of my patients in Lander who developed cerebellar ataxia as a result of chickenpox. Both still have the problem to this day. This is not a benign disease.  A few years ago, there was a missionary in South America who visited a family with the chickenpox.  He had not been immunized nor had the disease.  He came back to the apartment where there were a number of missionaries.  All came down with chickenpox. Although this is not a required immunization for missionaries, I would recommend it for all of my grandchildren.

As long as we are talking about Chickenpox we might as well mention that this virus lays dormant in the body until one dies. It can emerge when the body’s resistance allows it to rear its ugly head and it becomes Herpes Zoster (Shingles).  This can be a debilitating condition that, in some people, lasts years. My grandmother Stucki got Shingles involving the facial nerve and suffered until an anti-viral medication helped.  There is now a vaccine for Shingles and is recommended for seniors.  I have had Shingles twice, but I recognized the disease quickly and took the anti-viral medication and nipped it in the bud.  Now that the vaccine is available, I will probably get it.  I have seen a number of patients with Shingles over the years.  Most before any treatment was available. My mother got Shingles after exposure to a nephew with chickenpox.

Typhoid

This is a bacterium called by the medical profession Salmonella Typhi Murium.  It is transmitted from one person to another by one of the five F’s (flies, fingers, food, feces, or fomites (inanimate objects such as pencils, dishes, etc.).  Your great grandfather Marco Clark got Typhoid.  The prophet Joseph Smith had Typhoid and a resulting osteomyelitis in his leg, which was operated on in an experimental bone debridement by Dr. Nathan Smith saving his leg and his life. Good hygiene can avoid the disease, but it is rampant in a number of areas in the world.  One of my daughters got Typhoid on a trip to Mexico.  Fortunately, she responded to an antibiotic, but was really ill.  There are two vaccines for Typhoid available today. Typhim is an injection that lasts 2 years and Vivotif is an oral medication consisting of 4 capsules to be taken one every other day this lasts 5 years.  If you plan to take a trip south of the border, Grandpa recommends the Typhoid vaccine.

Influenza

The Spanish flu epidemic of 1918 caused 50 million deaths worldwide and 675,000 in the United States. This little virus mutates and so the immunity from a shot this year will not necessarily protect against next years strain. There is guess work involved, so yearly immunization, especially for seniors, is recommended. There are vaccines developed in media made from eggs, so if you are allergic to eggs, then get the vaccine that does not contain eggs. People still die of the flu today, but not to extent that they did then.  This is one of the things of mortality that afflict and torment man and woman.

There are other vaccines that I have had experience with, Japanese encephalitis, Rabies, and Yellow Fever. And diseases that they are working on such as Dengue fever, Zika, and Malaria, but I will not go into these.  If you want further information, ask grandpa.

 

 

 

     

 

   

    

 

 

What is important?

 

What is important?

The pandemic that is sweeping the nations has pointed out that there are important things and those that are really not important. 

 Unimportant things:

1. Sports. Everyone seems to be concerned that they are not playing sports because of the pandemic. The professional teams are not playing because of the pandemic. This affects those who play and the spectators. We can live without sports. They are not necessary. Of course there are some people who never watch or participate. So sports of all kinds are not necessary.
2. Restaurants. There are some people who frequent fast food establishments and sit down restaurants on a regular basis. Eating out is not essential. It is a convenient luxury. I do not remember eating out when I was growing up, perhaps only once a year if that often. We enjoy it, but it is not a necessity. 
3. Vacations. It is not necessary to travel or go away from home to relax and enjoy our selves. It is a nonessential pleasure that we have become accustomed to.
4. Social gathering. Although we enjoy being with people, we have neglected this in favor of in home entertainment. We watch television and DVDs and often neglect the stimulation of interpersonal relationships. The home and home centered activities are now taking their predominant place. 
5. Exercise gyms. There are many who frequent these places for the social experience and to exercise because many sit at a desk all day. The agrarian society that I grew up in had plenty of opportunity to break a sweat doing manual labor. Most people could do push-ups at home and fill empty gallon milk bottles with water and use them for weights to lift and build up their muscles. Manual labor provided all the exercise when I was growing up. 
6. Movie theaters and theaters. These are for recreation and diversion. They have their place, but are not essential. 
   

This is a test to see how we will handle adversity. Will we refuse to wear a mask? Will we vilify others because we don’t agree with their point of view? This is an individual test for everyone. We will be judged by our own response. Are we going to be kind or cross? Are we going to keep the commandments of Jesus or are we going to follow Satan and be contentious? Are we going to demonstrate or spread the gospel in a civil and polite manner? How are you going to measure up when you stand up before the Savior at the judgment day? 

 

Now what is important?

The knowledge that you are a child of God.

The gospel of Jesus Christ.

Keeping the commandments.

Family and family relationships.

Being an example of the believers in word and deed. 

Keeping our covenants with the Lord.  

Temple covenants for the living and the dead. 

Let me say here; that if the series of events follows the pattern that mankind has exhibited in the past are coming prior to Christ's coming in glory, then the family and family ties will be more important in strengthening the testimonies of the individual than at any time in our lifetimes. I think that the pandemic has given us an opportunity to help our family bond remotely.  Your grandmother and I have commented frequently how much we have enjoyed our weekly virtual meetings and how it has bonded us as a couple. This  will be more important as we strengthen each other in the times to come.  It was not available to our parents and grandparents, but it is given to us now to prepare us for that which is to come.

 

Please stay connected.

 

Love,

Grandpa and more importantly Grandma

 

 

Principles and preferences

Principles and preferences 

We were fortunate to have had an acquaintance with Elder Neal A. Maxwell. He was in our bishopric when we were first married and taught our Sunday school class. We invited him to speak at a fireside when we lived on the avenues when I was in my residency where he introduced this concept. He came to Wyoming and was the general authority who released me from my calling as stake president. We saw him in Frankfurt when he came as a member of the council of the twelve. 

He taught us the doctrine of principles and preferences. It is a good way to make decisions. You may ask yourself this question. Is it principle or is it preference? Our life should be guided by the principles of the gospel. These are unchanging doctrines that will lead us back to our Father in Heaven. 

It takes study and time to learn these principles. The scriptures and the prophets are the source of true principles. 

If we use these principles to guide us in our decisions then we will always make the correct choice. It may not be, and often isn't, easy but it will always be correct. 

We make decisions almost every day. They affect our lives and often the lives of people around us. 

I remember reading the biography of President Spencer Kimball. He would milk the cow and say to himself, I Spencer Kimball will never drink coffee. I Spencer Kimball will never drink tea. I Spencer Kimball will never use tobacco or alcohol. 

 

He made those decisions early in life using the principles of the gospel. Once he had made the decision he did not have to make it again. If the opportunity arose where someone would offer him tea or coffee or tobacco or alcohol he did not have to decide what to do. He had already made the decision based on true principles. 

Now what about preferences? The illustration that I have used in the past is candy bars. If you are in the store and at the candy counter there are many choices. It is your preference to choose a Milky Way our a Snickers or any other one. You can also elect not to buy any. This preference does not effect your eternal salvation. It is what you desire at the time. 

In the case of Elder Maxwell, he knew that I would have a choice of what to do with the training I had received. My decision to go into pediatrics and practice in Lander, Wyoming was a decision of preference. It is true that it affected my life and that of my family just like many other choices we make in life. I had other choices, but that is a story for another time. President Monson said in a talk when he visited our stake long after I was released as stake president, that I was drawn back to the area for a purpose. I think that the Lord guided me in my decision of preference, but it was still a decision of preference and not a decision of principle. 

Often we do not make the difference in our decisions, because we have not yet encountered the principles. We therefore have to constantly study for further light and knowledge. The Lord does not overwhelm us, but gives us line upon line and precept upon precept, here a little and there a little as we are able to receive and understand. It requires work and effort on our part.

To start out,  we can use the Ten Commandments and then add to them the principles Jesus taught in the sermon on the mount often referred to as the beatitudes. Then add my post of sixes and sevens. Then there are others as we study and get inspiration from the Holy Ghost.

In order to apply these principles into our decision making we must have a testimony that they are true principles. Then, when a decision needs to be made, we can ask what principle is involved in my making this decision or is this a decision of preference? 

Then ask the question what will be the short and long term effect of this action? In other words, what will be the long term consequence of this decision?

Often we may not have time to ponder. Our experience will then help us the next time. Thus, we learn and become better at making decisions. We therefore become agents unto ourselves and have the liberty wherewith we have become free.

Is Health care a right?

 

Health care is a right?

In the recent political campaign one of the candidates stated that health care was a right. 

 

The last time I read the constitution of the United States the only rights were life,liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The bill of rights does not mention health care or anything about health. 

Our founding fathers did not have health insurance. When I started practice only ten percent of my patients had health insurance. Since then we have had Medicare and recently universal health care. 

I have in my possession a document written by a classmate from medical school. The title was “Nobody’s money"

 

That is what this is all about. The cost of health care has risen exponentially. When I went into practice in 1965 the doctors in town were charging $3 for a routine office call. When I left practice in 1996 I was charging $35 for a routine office call. Now I have seen office calls for $100 and higher. 

Someone has to pay the office calls. Medical care whether an office visit or a surgical procedure needs to be reimbursed. If the individual cannot pay, who will?

The way insurance works is that people pay premiums and then the insurance company invests the money and then pays the providers. If the insurance company looses money, they raise the premiums. When I was on the board of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Wyoming we lost a million dollars one year. Fortunately we had the money in reserve.  We had to raise the rates. Some one had to pay for the losses and it was those who were insured.

 

In the case of the government sponsored health care the government taxes the people so they can pay the health care provider. The majority of people do not think about where the money comes from as long as they do not have to pay the bill. 

Let us take a hypothetical comparison. 

The Volkswagen (people’s car) was a promise that Hitler made to the German people. He promised that every household in Germany would own an auto. In this case we could say that ownership of a car was a right. So let us go to the car dealership and tell them which car we want. When they ask us how we are going to pay for it, we just say that the government will pay for it. Do you think that the dealer will buy into that?

We could use the same analogy for a grocery market. Everyone needs food. Therefore food is a right. We go to the market and fill our basket and go to the checkout counter and tell them that the government will pay the bill. Perhaps the clerk will laugh and call the people with the straight jackets and take us to the "funny farm". 

 

The fact that someone says that Health care is a right in order to get people to vote for them does not make it so.  People today think that it is Nobody's money and they are entitled to health insurance to pay the bill and that someone else will pick up the tab. 

There is a German song that I learned on my mission.  "Wer soll dass bezahlen?

Click Here

 

Translated it means who is going to pay for it. Until the Savior comes, we will be on a basis of everyone will be responsible for their own bills.  We may find that insurance helps with that, but we need to remember that the money has to come from someplace.

 

We have lived in areas of the world where universal health care is granted to all, but it is not what it is cracked up to be. The waiting time for elective procedures can be very long and the care as compared to what is available in the United States is substandard. 

 

Do not be deceived by those who are advocating anything that does not require effort and sacrifice. That is not the plan we voted for in the preexistence.

 

  

 

 

 

 

Written Februay 1997

When the second rescue first started we were asked to write of our experiences.  I wished to write that which was given to me when moved by the spirit and there were no thoughts which came to mind.  I drew a blank and had no thrilling experience which I could relate.  I felt a bit disobedient to the counsel, but did not think that what I could write would be of any significance.  As I pondered this new effort with the Hunt and Hodgett wagon train I felt impressed to write the following:

          The blessings of this event will be to teach members to use the computer and programs for family history.  This will lift them to a higher spiritual plane.  They (the pioneers) came to find Zion.  We must bring Zion to them.  The work of the millennium has started and we are privileged to be a part of it by being obedient.

           If we will do the work and daily read the scriptures and hold family home evening and foster love in our families we will stand firm and help to establish Zion here in this corner of Wyoming.  When we get to a certain point angels cannot be restrained from being our companions and teaching us and helping us in this work.  As we put in order our homes, others seeing our good works and separation from Babylon will want to learn of Him.

          Then will the gospel blossom in the hearts of the righteous gentiles and the separation of good and evil be more clear- cut.  As we do this our desires for those things of the world lessen and we will be less inclined to be carnal, sensual, and devilish.  The veil of darkness will be removed from our minds and we will experience the true joy that comes from a knowledge  and personal testimony of the savior.  We will have a greater understanding and appreciation for the atonement and the prophesy will be fulfilled for us which was given by the prophet.  Because we will know the Lord.

          I have seen that change in the lives of the people who have been touched by this work and hope that they will continue to receive the full benefit of the blessing laid up in store for them.  My wife and I have been the recipients of this blessing, which has been poured out on this stake.  We have been interested in family history for a long time.  We have been sporadic in our research, but have been blessed to know and have more family history than the average member.  Coincident with the time that the Willie and Martin project started we have had many avenues open to us that were not available before.  We have discovered names that we had looked for and not been able to find and have discovered names that we didn’t know existed.  We have more than doubled the amount of physical information that we had in our possession.  This has come to us in remarkable ways.  We can testify that the spirit of Elijah is working on the people to make them more aware of their ancestors and families.  Many of our sources are not members of the church and have shared generously the information that they have had.  In some cases we have been able to help them with information that we have.  The other day I got an idea to see how many of my ancestors crossed the plains, and by what means.  I found that almost all came early and were true pioneers with ox carts, wagons and walking.  I probably would not have taken the time to research this if it had not been for the emphasis that has been placed on this project by the stake.  Truly our hearts have been turned to our fathers and mothers to appreciate what has been our legacy.

 

Experiences that I would like to remember.

 

Experiences that I would like to remember. 

 

We have had some unusual experiences recently and I would like to at least write them down so that when I get around to putting them in journal format I will have them.

 

The most recent was the visit of the prophet and president of the church Gordon B. Hinckley to Russia.  I was asked to prepare for any medical emergency that might occur when the prophet was here.  I was also asked to be in town and to be available with my medical bag at the meeting that would be held.  They were to reserve a place for me to be close to the prophet in case help was needed.

 

I gave the name of the contact doctor at the SOS clinic to Elder Van Dyke and also the name and address of the Kremlin hospital that would be used in case there were to be a problem.  Elder Van Dyke programmed my mobile phone number into three mobile phones that would be given to the party when they arrived and put them on speed dial.

 

I contacted the SOS clinic and talked to Dr. Daniel Poitras and alerted him to the visit and he assured me that he would be available if needed and gave me his mobile phone number, which I put in my mobile phone book of numbers.

 

I also called Dr. Quinton Harris in Salt Lake and asked about any special problems that I would need to be alerted to as far as the prophet’s health was concerned.  He assured me that the prophet was in excellent health.  He said that those in the party (security and the secretary and his wife and daughter) would probably be more likely to be worn out from the schedule than was the prophet.  He just keeps on going and doesn’t worry about a thing.  Since he doesn’t sleep a lot and works while he is on the plane, it wears the others out, because they can sleep while the prophet is awake.  He detailed sister Hinckley’s medical problems so that I would be prepared to take care of her if the case arose.

 

I was prepared and did not have to care for any medical problems while the party was here in Moscow.

 

We invited our Russian teacher Lyda (Lydia) Balba to hear President Hinckley.  She accepted and we arranged to meet her at 6:20 at the Cosmos Hotel.  We arrived at 6:00 and waited for her.  We met members and missionaries in the foyer.  All were eagerly anticipating the arrival of the prophet.  We were looking out the window when the caravan arrived.  It seemed like an old friend was coming to visit.  We have seen him on numerous occasions, both in person and on the TV screen.  We have even shaken hands with him.  The last time was in Frankfurt on our last mission when he was there.  He seemed very alert and active for a 92 year-old man.  Sister Hinckley did not move as fast and was not as agile as he.  They went up to another room in the area and we waited for Lyda and Alice finally found her and we went into the main auditorium and sat in our assigned seats on the second row.

 

I sat next to Alice and Lyda sat on the other side of Alice.  They had very wide aisles in the hall and they had set up folding chairs on each side of the aisle so they could accommodate more people in the hall.  I sat next to a young woman who was from Veronezh.  She looked to me like she was 20 but she had two children 7 and 9 whom she had left at home.  She was there with her husband who was on the other side of the hall.  President Hinckley gave a good talk.  It was simple and not flashy or deep.  He expressed his love and the people felt it.  I think that it is sometimes too commonplace for the saints along the Wasatch front to see and have access to a living prophet.  The people here have not had satellite transmission of conference ever in their lives.  Most have never seen the prophet in person.  When he left he waved and a sea of white handkerchiefs waved back to him.  I felt bad that we were not told to bring a white handkerchief with us.  I later found out that they had instructed all the Russian Saints, but not the missionaries.  A real pity!  As the meeting closed and the prophet left, the young sister next to me was in tears.  Many in the audience were using their handkerchiefs to wipe their eyes.  I was impressed with the significance of the occasion.  In spite of the simplicity of the message the spirit had touched the saints there and given them a feeling of belonging and the knowledge that the prophet loved them.  They also felt for that small moment the love of Christ and his Father.  Most people were reluctant to leave.  Even when they did leave the hall they lingered in the halls visiting with each other and savoring the fellowship of the saints.  Their faces shown and they seemed so alive and vibrant.  The impact of this visit at this time will be felt for some time to come.  It was a privilege for us to be here at this time.  I suppose we will, at sometime in the future, count this as one of the rare treats in our earthly existence.

 

We were privileged to be present at the first satellite transmission broadcast to be received in Russia.  This was the dedication of the Nauvoo Temple.  This was a live transmission and there were many of the Russian Saints that were present to hear the transmission and translation in Russian.  It was held at the Uzney (South) branch building in Moscow.  When we arrived the office Elders from the south Mission were at the door and checking the recommends.  We obtained ours from Elder Robert Orton of the Area Presidency.   We were ushered into a room upstairs in the meetinghouse.  There were just a few who were there for the English session and we sat on the front row.  Once the broadcast began it was as if we were transported through space and were in Nauvoo.  I became oblivious to the surroundings.  I was no longer in Russia looking at a TV screen.  I was actually in Nauvoo and listening to the prophet and feeling the spirit radiating from the members of the audience there.  It was a sobering experience, because I knew that my ancestors had helped to build the original temple.  They had been there also and I am sure that they were among the unseen audience participating in that occasion. Alice and I were so engrossed in the experience that when the transmission ended we wanted to savor the moment.  The sad thing about it was as we were basking in the glow of the spiritual experience one of the Elders said in a loud voice you must leave now everybody get up.  That broke the spell.  We were a bit disturbed.  The reverence was gone.  Moscow returned.  The dirty streets and unkempt back yards, the dirty old dilapidated busses and the roar of the traffic replaced the beauty, serenity and peace of the temple experience that we had just participated in.  We were indeed back in the lone and dreary world.  What a contrast.  It was one that I had never before experienced.

 

We were very privileged to be present at the dedicatory services of the new Conference Center.  We had toured the conference center prior to it’s dedication and were really impressed by it’s size and the workmanship that we saw.  We were given tickets to the conference session when president Hinckley dedicated the building.  We were down on the main floor and toward the front.  We could clearly see the general authorities and also their wives and guests.  I have never seen a dedication of a building outside of a temple where they used white handkerchiefs and gave the Hosanna shout, but they did it at this dedication.  That was impressive enough, but then the choir and congregation sang “The Spirit of God Like a Fire is Burning”.  I was singing and tears were streaming down my face.  I was not the only one with tears.  President Hinckley was also wiping tears from his eyes.  I was standing and singing and a very strong Soprano voice was singing behind me to my right.  I looked to see who was singing so well, but there were only males behind me to the right.  I never could locate the voice, but there were people singing throughout the congregation and it seemed as though the whole hall was filled with people singing.  I do not doubt that there were heavenly choirs participating in the event.

 

 

Korihor is back

 

Korihor is back!

 

We have recently been reading about Korihor and other anti-Christs in the Book of Mormon.

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The Book of Mormon was written for our day to warn us of things to come, by reminding us of what has happened in the past. 

 

We can compare what is happening today to events that were happening at that time. It has been said that history repeats itself. This is is true because people become materialistic and forget God. So far, they have killed only one prophet since the time of the restoration of the Gospel, but there are plenty of people who try to destroy the faith of the true disciples of Christ both within and without the church. 

 

Attacks on the church and its doctrine will continue to escalate to try and persuade the humble members of the church to reject the safety of their Covenants and testimony of the gospel. 

 

A number of years ago the counselor to president Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, made a statement that has stuck with me since I read it early in my time as stake president. He said that the time would come when the individuals would not be able to live on borrowed light. 

 

This means that you, my grandchildren, are under attack by the evil one, who according to the scriptures, seeks to drag your eternal souls down to misery and eternal woe. 

 

The way that the modern day Korihors plant doubt and disbelief into the hearts and minds of the children of men is to divert their attention from the simple things that lead to Christ. They are: daily prayer, daily reading of the scriptures, church attendance, temple worship, paying tithing and offerings and seeking confirmation of the truth by the spirit. 

 

If we are negligent in these simple things, we may not be able to withstand the fiery darts of the adversary. 

It will require work and effort on our parts. Those who do not put in the effort will not gain the assurance that they are on the right track. Without this solid testimony and the need to repent and come closer to Christ we may not stand the day. 

 

Now my dear grandchildren, Who is on the Lord's side, Who?

 

Love Grandpa