A special friend!

Dear friends,

Today is my friend Peter's birthday. Let me tell you a few things I love about Peter:
1. Peter is always generous and includes others - he is always nice and friendly to everyone.
2. Peter has a hilarious giggle and is quick to laugh. It's always fun to be with him!
3. Peter fills his life to the brim with good things (okay maybe overflowing, because I don't see him enough...) For instance, right now Peter is acting in community theatre as a cowboy Bo. (hee hee. that's funny to me.)
4. MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL! Peter loves his family. His sister Kate suffers from a condition called hydrocephalus and Peter has organized a fundraising event to raise money for medical research.

Therefore, in honor of Peter's birthday and his amazing sister Kate, I'd like to invite you all to donate to http://teamhydro.org (no donation is too small! AND it's tax deductible, of course). If you do not have the means to donate, I invite you to spread the word! At the very least you can link to this blog post or Peter's web site http://teamhydro.org

Happy Birthday, Peter! I know there is nothing you want more than help for Kate :)

<-- Peter and Kate

The Spiritual Gems of Life by Jordan Cox

You use virtual reality in your lives all the time: video games, computer animations, virtual relationships through the Internet, virtual entertainment through TV and the movies—to name a few of the many forms of virtual reality. However, if you wish to win your bid for eternal life, you will need to put away the virtual reality of your life and develop real relationships and real friendships. You will need to build eternal realities.

These gems sparkle on my dreary plain, and I have discovered them only as I have kept my eyes focused on the Son of God. I have collected them in my collecting bag—my journal. You have your own plain to explore. Unique and beautiful gems are there. I hope you will find them. Remember, keep your eyes toward the Son of God. Pray always in your heart. Look for spiritual parallels. You will see them. At first they will be tiny sparkles scattered upon the plain, but then you will notice that they are really more organized than you thought. I think that one day we will all collectively discover that they are part of an amazing sea of glass hiding under the dusty soil of this earth life. And this sea of glass will tell us all things about the kingdoms we have been living in (see D&C 130:7).

Read the talk here.

Quote of the Day

If I esteem mankind to be in error, shall I bear them down? No, I will lift them up and in their own way too, If I cannot persuade them my way is better; and I will not seek to compel any man to believe as I do, only by the force of reasoning, for truth will cut its own way.
Joseph Smith

Quote of the Day

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty.
JFK

Quote of the Day

We identify the flag with almost everything we hold dear on earth, peace, security, liberty, our family, our friends, our home. . .But when we look at our flag and behold it emblazoned with all our rights we must remember that it is equally a symbol of our duties. Every glory that we associate with it is the result of duty done.
Calvin Coolidge

Quote(s) of the Day

It takes a long time to turn a big country around. Just be of good cheer and keep working on it.

There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America.

Bill Clinton