22 June 2025….”it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

First I could be wrong about a lot of what a share here. I don’t think I am. I have thought prayed and analyzed it a lot. 

What I say is not doctrine, but from all my mental and spiritual work. I’m not off muuujjjjjj)k mbase. Think what you like. You can have your own opinion however wrong it my be. Not everyone’s opinion is wrong, only some. 

If you ask my opinion, Donald Trump is very much like a person who is mentioned in The Book of Mormon, Captain Moroni. 

Alma 48

“11 And Moroni was a strong and a mighty man; he was a man of a perfect understanding; yea, a man that did not delight in bloodshed; a man whose soul did joy in the liberty and the freedom of his country, and his brethren from bondage and slavery;

12 Yea, a man whose heart did swell with thanksgiving to his God, for the many privileges and blessings which he bestowed upon his people; a man who did labor exceedingly for the welfare and safety of his people.”

Some people probably recognize I left out the part about Moroni being “firm in the faith of Christ”.  I don’t know what Donald Trump believes.  During the past year he probably believes more than he used to. Still, like the rest of us, he hasn’t been translated or turned into a pillar of salt. We are all “brethren”. Men and women , brothers and sisters. Donald Trump is working for everyone, whither they like it or not. 

Why some people wanted his opponent in the election is beyond me.  I don’t think most of the political parties are anything more than names. Everything at present is Left or MAGA. “Republicans” haven’t existed since Eisenhower. “Democrats” since JFK. Everything until Donald Trump has been Theater. Cheap entertainment. So basically 60 years, we have been living though cheap entertainment. 

I would not dare call president Trump a “man of God” but I would say God is using him in some ways. Still, Donald Trump, like everyone, has his free will, capable of being human, making mistakes. 

I laugh when people say President Trump will create concentration camps. If there are ever any, I will deliver cookies to wherever is closest and send cookies by mail to anyone that asks. 

The “No Kings Day” was a joke. No Kings Day is July 4th. 

I saw a couple different posts about the No Kings March. One lady suggested that anyone that doesn’t think like her isn’t “Christian”. I wonder what kind of state of mind a person needs to be in to be so condescending. I wanted to copy the comment, but apparently her comments to my comments were deleted. Oh well. 

Another lady I know from high school, makes posts that are obviously against the president. Her right. What really confuses me is the fact that that if anyone says something she can’t refute or accept, she writes “there we are then.”  She can be as wrong as she likes, we all have that God given right. I will admit it is very frustrating. Humans, children of God have the capacity to think about how we think. ?? This person doesn’t live in a state that I would say has much common sense. So maybe that’s the reason. 

The one person, I think, lives in Utah/the Land of the Gadianton Robbers. Frankly I don’t care for Utah much anymore. To cold and to much snow. Utah Valley and the Salt Lake Valley plus up into Ogden, if you live there, you lost a bet. Second part, that bet was with God, you had no hope of winning. 

Going along with this I think of Mercy and Justice. My understanding is these two principles oppose each other. 

If you want to be perfectly Just, you cannot be perfectly Merciful, and vice versa. 

From my understanding, God the Father, was not able to be Perfectly Just and Perfectly Merciful by Himself. 

Jesus Christ paid the Justice to the Father. Now the Father can be perfectly Just and Merciful. 

Christ has been Perfectly Merciful. Now we must do what we can to pay Him back. 

We are capable of a lot as humans. Still, “Do not run faster or labor more than you have strength and means provided…but be diligent unto the end.” (Doctrine & Covenants 10:4)

This is not trying to be comprehensive. Just thoughts. 

(Temporary Backup) 11 June 2025

My life feels very busy right now. 

I had three graduations.

 My son from college.

 

The other son from high school. 

My step son from high school. 

Now we are trying to figure out summer plans. Not my idea of a good time. I just want to stay home most of the time. But to get my Veteran discount I need to be there. It’s not that I don’t want to go, but it can be so hard to do somethings once I’m there. 

That is why I am more of a homebody. 

The most exciting part of my life at times is the fact I grow chili peppers.

I was outside looking at what I have. 

A ghost pepper. 

Scorpion pepper. 

Tobacco pepper. 

Bird pepper. 

Then my wife wanted to grow okra. 

We have Swiss chard, a tomato, cucumber, and watermelon. Then I learned dill is good to keep the bugs away. Sorry I didn’t have pictures of everything. 

It’s a very mild summer for San Antonio, so far. Hope it’s not too much of a scorcher. 

24 May 2025

Please read to the end. 

I had a very interesting experience on facebook the past few days. 

The post and comments were a clear case of Oversimplification Fallacy.

 

I like things to be simple as much as the next person, but life is anything but simple. 

The constitution has its plan text, but it also has nearly 250 years of judicial interpretation, that destroy any hope of plain text interpretation. Plan text reading will not help anyone. We have to dig in to the text, the judicial interpretations, and then the retranslating into common English. Then some us, like myself need a school house rock version. 

I am not an attorney, but I like some legal stuff. 

I come from Vernal, Utah. The Dinosaur Capital of the World. I love many things about Vernal and the surrounding area. But most everyone that comes from there, myself included, are simple minded folk. There are lots of well educated people, but people from there don’t want needless complexity. Still in many ways it is a very isolated community. At one time it was the largest city(?)in the US without a train system running through it. As far as I know there is still no train system that goes there. 

 

I have had to work hard to understand certain concepts that my semi sheltered, Vernal upbringing didn’t offer. I had to learn that the world is a lot bigger and more complex than I ever realized or imagined. 

The comments of the Facebook post seemed to devolve in people telling me I was wrong because I didn’t understand the plain text of the constitution. The courts have interpreted it so much that you can’t stick with a plain text interpretation. 

The fifth amendment on the constitution website talking about who is and is not a “Person” in the US:

“The Supreme Court’s jurisprudence indicates that, although aliens present within the United States generally have due process protections, the extent of those constitutional protections may depend on certain factors, including whether the alien has been lawfully admitted or developed ties to the United States, and whether the alien has engaged in specified criminal activity. Therefore, even with regard to aliens present within the United States, the Court has sometimes deferred to Congress’s policy judgments that limit the ability of some classes of aliens to contest their detention or removal.”

 Or read the website if you like. 

https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/amdt5-6-2-3/ALDE_00013726/

I know I am usually not the smartest person in the room. That said I have more experience than I would ever want to admit. Certain aspects of this world are complex and messy and more difficult than we would like.   

Now that I have said that, each of us can be the smartest person in the room about something, butwe can choose to be meek. 

Meek is not weak. A Meek person can be the smartest person in the room. But the  Meek person does not go out of his or her way to prove that he or she is smarter about something. I need to remember that. 

For years I have had to just be quiet about all kinds of things. Lots of people think they are right about something. Certain things I know I am correct about. Unless it is a matter of life or death, I need to remember to be quiet. 

There are lots of things I don’t know, like the airspeed of an unladen swallow, and other more important things. So I can ask people that are smarter than me about certain issues. 

One thing I can understand well is mechanical issues. The most frustrating thing some days is knowing how something works but not being able to explain it to someone else and being physically incapable. For me, talking like everyone else is a challenge sometimes and movement can be excruciating.

 

There is so much I want to take part in but for various reasons I can’t. For example, I would love to help others move furniture at times, but I do an amazing job of getting in the way. Helping actually move things, not so much. 

That said I know a lot about certain subjects. I hate it when people don’t ask or pay attention at times. But it’s just easier to be quiet at times. 

I have to do better at being quiet and just being there. I know, I know a lot. So what. I don’t need to share my knowledge with everyone. In fact it’s better if we don’t at times. 

Meek? I’m probably not. I have to be reminded by life to much.

24 April 2025…..hmmm

I have to worry about things that many people will never have to worry about, at least at this age I am right now. 

I have a shower bench. Very helpful. But not every shower bench is created equal. 

I had to get a shower bench for my new house. Normal. I ask the VA for one. 

I ask in December. 

Then I called in January. It was back logged. They said everything since November was backlogged. 

Nothing new. 

I wanted to shower at my house. So I went to Home Depot and bought a bench /stool. 

Do you know how much a shower bench costs?

Well I do now. 

Not inexpensive. And the box was covered in dust. 

I went with the less expensive option. Big mistake. 

Expensive,yes. Durable construction? No. 

I have received most things I need from the VA for the last 10 plus years. So when I buy a shower bench/stool for the first time I really had sticker shock.

 

So we got home my wife put it together. The first week no problem.

 

Then I noticed I was sliding into the wall. 

The legs on one side were wider than the other side. I was able to squeeze the legs back together. 

After about two more weeks the legs were spreading open again. 

Then some one took the bench out of the shower and put it in opposite/backwards from the way it had been. Then one day I’m sitting on it and fall over. 

So do I go by a new bench. 

No. To expensive for my taste. I got some 550 cord and a stick and fixed with my wife’s help. 

Oh, and finally in April I got the shower bench I requested in December. Nothing like speedy service. 

15 March 2025….beware the ides of March

News if you can call it that is nothing more than cheap entertainment. 

Political news even more so.

 We all have an unhealthy fascination with political stuff. It is important, but not nearly as important as most of us think it is. 

Local in state politics in more important.

I’m going to delete some apps like YouTube from my phone and iPad. I can use my desktop or TV if I need YouTube. 

The government is not going to blow up. But we would probably be better off if it did. 

This week has been spring break for three of my children and my stepson. My other son has spring break next week. Ugh. 

I haven’t let people know like I should but we bought a house.

 We have been moving in slowly. The lease for the apartment we have been in end at the end of April. So we have been moving slowly. Not all bad. I think I’m finding some stuff I really don’t need anymore. I don’t know how we were able to fit and stuff we have in the apartment.

Now we’re in the house and life is better.

Things I wanted; walking distance to church and shopping. Got that. The church building is half mile away. I’ve been going to that building for years. That said I’m in a different ward and stake. Or church building houses four wards from three different stakes. 

There is a Walmart and HEB and tons of stuff in walking distance. We stopped by the Asian supermarket. That might be fun to use sometimes.