Working under the car the other night, scraping off an old exhaust flange gasket to mate the catalytic converter with a new, not rusted and not leaking resonator pipe, I had a Merle Haggard album playing that I hadn’t listened to before. One song stood out as lyrically unlike anything I had ever heard anyone sing before. For those who uphold the family as a unit of production, here is a little tune to add to your collection.

The Singer is a widower keeping the family going, more wistful than bereaved with the loss of his wife at this point. He is well along into bearing singly the parental load meant for two, and pretty cheerful about it. As “the keeper of all that was yours”, leading my children in cleaning the house and keeping it in order was a significant piece of carrying on faithfully and nourishing the happiness and strength of the family my late wife and I had formed. That is the case for families not missing a mother as well. This is a true song. Enjoy.

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“Chores” sung by Merle Haggard

When I was a young man, I worked on my own
You had the big chore of makin’ a home
Now that I’m the keeper of all that was yours
I’m head of the family and I’m boss of the chores
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For the history-minded I strongly recommend this interview with Sean McMeekin, author of Stalin’s War and other books.

The great men of history are seldom humanitarians.

As I write, it is Tuesday morning. Russell Nelson, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints died Saturday night, Sept. 27. That was two weeks plus two days and a night ago. His funeral and burial were Tuesday, Oct. 7, which was seven days ago. When he died the quorum of the First Presidency was dissolved. Seventeen days since Pres. Nelson’s death and seven days since his burial, the First Presidency has not yet been reorganized. This is unusual.
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Our President Oaks, with the approval of our prophet Russell M. Nelson, deplored the few number of babies among the Saints and tied it to many an LDS family being a consumptive family instead of a productive family.

Elite level visual pun right here

Here I am going to outline the very basic principles of being a productive family for the many, many Saints who have enthusiastically embraced the prophets’ call and are wondering how to begin.  Each and every one of you make us proud.

• The four fundamentals of being productive
• Why being productive matters
• How to be productive (it’s easy)

Many of our friends are already production-pilled.  Please discuss what you know with the Church, especially friends and family, along with anything you learn here.

But first, a reminder of what President Oaks said to us in his first keynote Conference address: (more…)

President Holland pointed our attention at evidence for the gospel.

He told the story of the man blind from birth who was healed by the savior, and when asked to denounce Jesus as a sinner replied that he didn’t know anything about that, but he did know that he now could see.

How important evidence is, as opposed to wishes or argument or even malice in opposition to the truth.

–thus President Holland

Evidence is not the actual root of testimony.  That is the Spirit–the peace of God which passeth understanding–sweet is the peace the gospel brings.

But it is also good, important even, to tally up the evidence that you also have.

Here is some of mine. (more…)

Yesterday I asked our friends about godly fear.  You responded very well.

I am particularly interested in the suggestion in the first one that “fear of man”, i.e., caring what people think about you, is an imperfect or incomplete form of love.

And more
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Elder Bednar made a harge contrast between regular fear and godly fear.  He said godly fear creates peace.

I made a virtue chart but I’m not sure its accurate.  I think godly fear may not be a refinement of regular fear at all.  In other words, I don’t know that regular fear is a distortion of godly fear.  It may be something more like awe.

Anyway, here’s the chart.  Your thoughts urgently needed.

I didn’t say anything publicly out of respect, so you will have to take my word for it, but after President Nelson died I have been praying a lot to the Lord that now that we have temples a-buildin’ that need fillin’ He would direct the next prophet to tackle babies and families.

I was stunned.

My daughter said her roommates in Rexburg were talking about what President Oaks said.  The consensus was that they had been thinking of four to five kids, but were now thinking maybe 8.

I love the ambition.

Sixty Million Saints. . .

Six Hundred Million Saints. . .

Or to repurpose the old slogan folks used when people were complaining that the Church had too much money,

Make It a Billion.

Enjoy your day with family, the Word, and the communion of the Saints.

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If at some point in the next two days you want to share some insight or some feeling with friends, here you have friends.

There seems to be a natural virtuous cycle where we

Build more temples

=> More temple attendance

=> More temple weddings

=> More kids, more happy families

=> More need for temples

But somewhere along the way it seems to have broken down

This story is not mine. I first encountered it reading a newspaper in 1987. A family traveling to the temple had perished in an automobile collision. Father, mother, a recently returned missionary son, and three more younger sons. They were survived by a daughter and sister who was at Ricks College when her family all died. It was an astonishing thing to think about, and if that had been the end of it for me, I think reading of that tragedy would still haunt some corner of my mind.

Three years later I found myself living in the small town that had been that family’s home. I didn’t know this at first, but now and then I would hear some remark that led me to realize that I had arrived at an intersection with the dead family I read about. Their deaths were somewhere in the back of everyone’s minds and sometimes those thoughts came to the fore. (more…)

Honesty and dishonesty are obviously the opposite of each other.  But I  keep thinking about what virtue dishonesty distorts?  Optimism?  Hope?  Faith?

From the General Conference archives:

The One Hundred Twenty-first Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was held in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Utah, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, April 6, 7,8, and 9, 1951.

President George Albert Smith, President of the Church, having passed away Wednesday, April 4, President Smith’s funeral services were held in the Tabernacle Saturday, April 7, at 2:00 p.m., which services are included as a part of this Conference report.

General sessions of the Conference were held at 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Friday and Sunday and at 10:00 a.m. Monday. The General Priesthood meeting convened in the Tabernacle Saturday evening, April 7 at 7:00 p.m., with overflow assemblies in the Assembly Hall and Barratt Hall.

The session Monday morning at 10:00 was a solemn assembly, at which the First Presidency of the Church was reorganized, with David Oman McKay as President, Stephen L Richards as First Counselor, and Joshua Reuben Clark, Jr. as Second Counselor.

[ . . . ] (more…)