Talk about an extended warranty! When we pay the price to have a marriage performed in the temple of the Lord, we come face to face and soul to soul with the actual meaning of the word endless. When I bought my printer from Office Max, I also purchased a plan to give me two years of protection in case the thing went south on me. Any significant investment of money creates a desire in us to enjoy some permanence. We are often willing to spend a little more to ensure that what we have labored and paid for will last a while.

If you have the time and the inclination, review the following scriptures: Exodus 14:1–4; 16:2–3; 17:1–4; Numbers 11:4–6, 18–20; 14:1–4; 20:3–5;21:5. In each of these verses, Israel longs for the good things of Egypt, for an opportunity to return her slime pits. You with young children might have experienced something like this. I know I made life miserable for my parents on a couple of occasions when they took me to visit distant relatives and I did not want to go. My constant complaining and incessant review of the things I was missing at home must have filled them with indignation. The Lord seems to have had some of those same feelings about the children of Israel during their backward-looking journey to the Promised Land.

Why are some people who start a weight loss regimen that requires months of commitment able to start and finish the program and then keep the weight off for good—while others abandon the effort, go back to old eating habits and gain more weight than before they made their commitment?

A recipe from the Food Nanny

So why does a person lift weights? Why does a person take bike rides? Why do some choose to attack steep hills? It is because they seek greater physical strength and they recognize the personal benefits of strong legs and strong arms. After all, legs are the primary “vehicle” that accommodate human mobility, and strong arms and legs allow a person to lift and carry heavy loads. Humans benefit by increasing or maintaining good leg and arm strength, and this happens only when a person continues physical activity in the face of resistance.

If there's one thing to learn from this, it's that some Mormons are ultimate Disney fans.

While Mitt Romney continues to hold respectable leads in most Republican polls for president of the United States, he still has numerous critics who find fault with his faith: Mormonism. In a world full of turmoil and conflict, corruption and dishonesty, hate and moral decay, and a serious questioning of governmental leadership capable of changing our course of direction, perhaps his faith -- Mormonism -- "is" a strong reason he should definitely become the Republican nominee and the next president of the United States. Mitt Romney's character, attitude, and example and his governmental and economic experience speak volumes about his ability to lead our troubled country and will have far-reaching influence in Washington and throughout America.

At the beginning of Lehi in the Desert, the late, legendary Hugh Nibley reviews the distinguished American archaeologist William F. Albright’s criteria for determining the historical plausibility of the Middle Egyptian tale of Sinuhe, which Albright considers to be “‘a substantially true account of life in its milieu’ on the grounds (1) that its ‘local color [is] extremely plausible,’ (2) it describes a ‘state of social organization’ which ‘agrees exactly with our present archaeological and documentary evidence,’ (3) ‘the Amorite personal names contained in the story are satisfactory for that period and region,’ and (4) ‘finally, there is nothing unreasonable in the story itself.’”[i] Nibley then asks about the story of Lehi: “Does it correctly reflect ‘the cultural horizon and religious and social ideas and practices of the time’? Does it have authentic historical and geographical background?

From the days of the Mormon Battalion through every war and every peace since, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have shown their love and dedication to the United States of America with a passionate and devoted spirit. Many have served and sacrificed in countless ways as "builders of the nation." That spirit and dedication was honored in story at song at the annual Pioneer Day Commemoration Concert presented Friday night in the Conference Center by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square under the direction of Mack Wilberg and with honored guests Brian Stokes Mitchell and Linda Eder.