Random thoughts from oldmcgyver

I just reread the talk in the October Conference entitled the Gift of Eternal Testimony. He talked about Joseph Smith in the Sacred Grove. He said, I know exactly where I was when my Sacred Grove became a reality, at 6:am in my bathroom on a Wednesday 3 years after my baptism. That struck a memory with me, and I remembered a similar experience in my bathroom on the day we were baptized. It happened Saturday May 25 1963. We had taken all the lessons from the Stake Missionaries we were to be baptized that day. I was comfortable with the idea of joining the Church because it was what mom wanted. (All thru our marriage, when I didn’t know what to do, mom would set down with me and we would talk it out, she is my rock) We lived in an apartment that shared a bathroom with another apartment in an older house, so timing was crucial. I went into the bathroom to shave (among other things). Thinking about baptism i started to shave and suddenly it begin to get dark, I looked at the light and it w...

The Last 1% — A Love Letter to a Vanishing Generation” If you were born between 1930 and 1946, you belong to an incredibly rare and extraordinary group — only 1% of your generation is still alive today. You are the quiet keepers of a world that no longer exists, a bridge between candlelight and smartphones, handwritten letters and instant messages, ration books and digital wallets. You were born into resilience. You came from the Great Depression — when every scrap of cloth, every tin can, every drop of milk mattered. You watched the world rebuild itself after war, not through noise or complaints, but through sweat, dignity, and belief in tomorrow. You remember when the milkman’s whistle meant breakfast was coming, when discipline came with love, and when neighbors truly knew each other’s names. Your imagination was your greatest gift. Without screens or gadgets, you built castles in your minds, played with marbles and sticks, and listened to the radio as families gathered close, heart...

Sister Tracy Browning in General Conference talked about music in primary and how the Primary songs helped the children and herself. That got me to thinking about my youth in grade school. Once a month a man would come by the school house (we called him the Bible man). He would spend a half hour with us and tell us a bible story and give us a card with the scripture on it to remind us what he talked about. Well that same organization ran a bible school for the kids for a week during the summer. For about three or four summers, my mom made sure Bob and I went to summer bible school. The Bible Man drove a school bus and picked us up at nine in the morning and took us to a church each day. At bible school we had classes from 10:00 to 11:30 and then we had a lunch (a sandwich and a glass of milk). Then we learned songs till 1:30 and back on the bus to go home. This was Monday thru Friday and Friday night we had a little program for our parents, the most important part was us...