The best way is the the long-term way of thinking: building or rebuilding beautiful architecture and infrastructure that lasts; planting trees and gardens wisely and well, with an eye to the end result perhaps 20-100 years in the future; being good stewards of the land for future use and enjoyment; accumulating wealth for descendants; learning from the mistakes of ancestors and healing the wounds of abuse and sorrow that have been passed down through families; and preserving the best of our culture while discarding the dross.”
-thus E.C.

“Play-Doh” is the trademarked commercial modeling compound.   Here’s a recipe for a home-made version:

2 cups plain flour.  Use the cheapest all-purpose flour.
4 tablespoons “cream of tartar.”
2 tablespoons cooking oil.
1 cup plain table salt.
2 cups boiling water.
Use inexpensive food coloring to add color.  

(This is not intended to be eaten. You play with it.)

I was reminded of this when I saw some years-old samples in plastic bags (double bagged) sitting on a shelf. Out of curiosity, I opened one and it was still pliable. Some of the salt had precipitated out, but it was easily worked back in. It did not smell spoiled.  Enjoy.

It may be that people in a state of nearly pristine ignorance about x should be circumspect in their opinions about the regulation, taxation, or outright prohibition of x, but they aren’t, and that’s democracy for you.

…

The sort of people who say that Michael Milken’s career is an indictment of capitalism never argue that Rod Blagojevich’s career is an indictment of democracy. They are predictable that way.

–Thus Kevin D. Williamson

Scouting USA declares bankruptcy.

They were already morally bankrupt.

The timing of the Church severing its relationship seems inspired. Not too soon, which might reflect ingratitude. Not too late, which might have got the Church caught up in the lawsuits.

One might expect the woke bar, encouraged by successes against both the Catholic Church and BSA, might target the Church next. That they have not already done so in any serious way is a bit remarkable. One wonders if the Church has done a better job of local leadership. Except, honestly, I don’t wonder, having observed our local leadership up close all my life.

I am my ward’s Emergency Management Director, which is normally as cushy a calling as you can get. But the more I look into this novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, the more my ‘spidey-senses’ are beginning to scream.

Of course, any revelation I have, pertains to my calling and ward boundaries, but we also know that “it becometh every man who has been warned, to warn his neighbor”. So I am not going to say anything the Prophets have not already said, but I would say now is the time to have your food Storage. I really don’t know how hard this virus will hit us, but pandemics are not a matter of if, but a matter of when. The scriptures tell us that plagues will go forth, sooner or later.

The stories Chinese Nationals are telling, should make us wake up and pay close attention. If appears this has an infectivity coefficient similar to smallpox. I could share many more alarming details and news stories, but we already know what we have been commanded.

We have been commanded to have 1-2 years of food storage. Let us begin calmly but determinedly building up our own personal family storage.

A “Page 33” testimony is what you want.  Page 33 of Gospel Principles, last print page of Chapter 7.

Testimony from the Holy Ghost is, generally speaking, not a binary —  0/1, off/on — proposition.  It can be, but not always.There are degrees, a scale.  

I conceptualize it as there being three  main areas on the scale:  Think, Believe, Know.   Sub-divide it further however you wish.  In my book: “think” is an opinion without action; true “belief” leads to action; and “know” crosses some threshold.

There is a grey area between “think” and “believe.”  And another grey area between “believe” and “know.”

But there are inflection points, a point beyond which it is obvious that you are in the higher territory of the scale.  

Language is imprecise in these grey areas.  For instance, you might say “I think that I know” or “I believe that I know.”  But the inflection point I speak of is such that you take a breath, and solemnly say “I know that I know.”  This is what is described on page 33.

This is the miracle, the supernatural.  It is transformative.  It is your own internal “proof” of the existence of the Godhead, and of whatever other pure information/intelligence that comes along with the experience.

Once you go beyond that threshold/inflection point into “Know” territory, those things can’t be denied without deceiving oneself.  But, you can lose those things through sin — light can be lost or taken away.   The Lord said He will take away from those who don’t continue to receive.

—

Transformation.  Conversion. It is an ongoing process.  

I’ve heard the phrase “deep roots of conversion,” meaning that which anchors you against opposing forces.

Conversion, meaning change, is more than acquiring information, or the testimony/knowledge. It is when our heart and mind changes. Our desires change. Our attitudes change. These things then lead to change in behavior. Repeated behavior, habit, then strengthens the other changes, creating more resistence to opposition.

The Democrat party has gone from being the party of JFK to being the party of the man who shot him.

— Pseudonymous Internet commenter