Fulness of Times

The phrase "easiness and willingness" really jumped out at me as I was reading Helaman 6:36. "And thus we see that the Lord began to pour out his Spirit upon the Lamanites, because of their easiness and willingness to believe in his words." Contrast that to the previous verse:  "And thus we see that the Spirit of the Lord began to withdraw from the Nephites, because of the wickedness and the hardness of their hearts." Choosing to disobey commandments, to accept sin, to not try to be and do better (repent) every day leads us to dwindling in unbelief and growing in wickedness and abominations (verse 34). A few verses earlier (verse 31) we learn more about what the Nephites choose to do (or not do). They Turned out of the way of righteousness Trampled under their feet the commandments of God Turned to their own ways Built up to themselves idols of their gold and their silver The wording "did build up unto themselves idols of their gold and their silver&q

 I hear the argument from vaccinated individuals that they don't think it's right for the unvaccinated to pose a health risk to the public. Well, that is the price of a free country. People make choices all the time that affect others. What you think is right doesn't mean it gives you the right to force it on others. Long before any of us came to this earth there was a council in Heaven. A plan was presented that countered God's plan. God's plan allowed for personal choice and accountability. It gave man agency to act. An atonement would be made that would open the doors of mercy which would satisfy the demands of justice on those who would accept the terms of mercy. The opposing plan was aimed at those who were fearful of making bad choices. It was focused on those wanting an easy life, a life that would be guaranteed safe and protected from the bad choices of others. The plan was presented as idyllic because everyone would do what they were supposed to do and ever

 The world went from "we're going to shut things down for a few weeks to flatten the curve" to what will likely be a vaccine requirement if you want the freedom of a normal life. Forget the fact that it's extremely unethical to require people to have a vaccine that has no long-term studies. Not to mention there will be no long term studies because there is no control group to compare the study to. All of those who believed the lockdowns would only last a few weeks were proven wrong as it lasted months. And there were/are politicians and health department directors who loved the extra power and authority. They didn't care what effect lockdowns have on mental or emotional health. All they cared about was the power they felt, power that came with the ability to lock people out of normal life, and power that came with the continuous fear-mongering. Then came the promise of vaccines that were being developed. Surprisingly some of the vaccines started being developed wi

 Here's something to keep in mind. Worse illness will be coming. If you read the scriptures you can find plenty of references for plagues that are coming before the Lord returns. And, no, I don't think COVID (at least none of it's current variants) qualifies as a scriptural plague. But I do believe it's supposed to wake us up and get better prepared. I love science. But I'm not one to fall down and worship the latest and greatest discovery or "proof" that is being pushed.  If it's not clear from previous posts, I'm not a big proponent of getting the COVID vaccine. I completely respect anyone's choice to receive it, just as I expect them to respect my choice to not get it. I've had COVID. I believe natural resistance is better and more adaptable than science-created (i.e. man created) immunity. And everyone needs to seek for personal revelation about what is best for their bodies. My concern is there is not enough push and awareness for real

 "Follow the science" is a loaded phrase. People use that to justify just about everything. "Science" used to say smoking wasn't harmful and DDT didn't cause problems. There are scientific studies that "prove" fats are bad, and that high-cholesterol foods are bad. The phrase is used for pushing climate change, LGBTQ+, and other agendas. And it's used by the opposing side to show how much the one side doesn't follow science. The point is science changes. It evolves. But it's evolution is often slow and tedious, unless there's something that's discovered to be so blatantly false that the evidence can't be ignored any more (like smoking being bad for health). It's not hard to find new and/or unexpected discoveries in various scientific fields on a weekly basis.  The truth is most "proven" science is still just theory, which only means they have only found proof that supports the theory. It doesn't mean there i

 In my last post I wrote about my experience with COVID and some of my thoughts. Here's what I didn't mention: I've been spending more than six months "prepping" for illness.  It actually started about a year ago, but then slipped for a few months. I started up again in February of this year. My "prepping" has been to: Eat better - more veggies, produce and foods in as close to their natural state as possible, and less processed foods. Increased fiber and less meat. Drink more water Get more physical activity -- morning walks, riding bike, walking dog, lifting light weights Better, more consistent sleep  Being more consistent with vitamins Increasing my gratitude and finding the good in everything I'm not perfect in any of those areas, and my previous post attests to my not getting the sleep I should. However, I'm making overall good efforts Here are some of the benefits I'm beginning to experience: Better health More energy Clearer skin incr

 About 3 weeks ago, on a Friday, my wife started feeling a little under the weather. If I remember right it was a headache. She gets migraines about every month but she said this was different. And she was feeling tired and congested.  That day also happened to be when our area got completely blanketed with lots of smoke from out-of-state wildfires. Even when we went up another 1500 feet in elevation the smoke was still bad. She was ill that weekend, as was a daughter who was mostly fighting an ear infection, though she also had a few other symptoms that we attributed to the body fighting the infection. I made the mistake of staying up late that night and the next night. I indulged and was playing some video games. I play some video games once or twice a week and end up staying up late once or twice a month. I mention that because I believe it (staying up late and not getting enough sleep) combined with the extraordinarily unhealthy (smoky) air combined to weaken my immune system. By M

 First, and this may cause some people's defense to shoot up, I am not anti-vaccine. In fact, I believe the concept, the theory, behind vaccines is sound.  But, there are a couple of issues that give me pause with regards to vaccines. First, I have no desire to be a part of massive experimental vaccine trial. So, I have no intention of getting an COVID vaccine (not to mention I recently had COVID). No vaccine is proven to be 100% effective nor is any guaranteed to be 100% safe. If you happen to be one of the few unlucky ones to get a reaction you have no recourse against the manufacturer. Or your doctor. Vaccine manufacturers may claim vaccines are not money makers. Maybe. But when does a for-profit company do something out of completely good will, especially when it costs them millions of dollars? Did you forget the government is paying vaccine manufacturers? What about insurance companies? The truth is there is a ton of money involved, it's just that the public doesn't se