by Dave Ellis
Our big family vacation this year was spent in Cache Valley, Utah. That place has it all if you are looking for cows and cow-related smells. Aside from farming there are some great hikes and these things called ‘trees’ that I forgot about since moving to the desert twenty years ago. The higher up the mountain you go the more trees there are!
Plus the more likely you’ll be attacked by BYU’s mascot!

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By Krista Ralston Oakes
The apostle Paul described his experience with “a thorn in the flesh,” from which he prayed for relief. This prayer was not answered as he had hoped. We can all relate to having a sincere prayer answered “no,” or “not now.” We understand that all prayers are answered in accordance with the timing and the good will of the Lord, who knows and loves all – and sometimes that requires patience or a willingness to see things in a new way.
Instead of removing Paul’s affliction, the Lord replied: “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” Paul later testified that he would glory and take pleasure in this and many other infirmities “for Christ’s sake, for when I am weak, then I am strong.” (See 2 Corinthians 12:7-12). Paul recognized the opportunity to use his gained strength as a source of strength for others:

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by Marilyn Richardson
Two granddaughters, ages eleven and thirteen, were coming for a summer visit so I began thinking up activities. There’d be swimming and the occasional movie, a trip to the mall, maybe some sewing, but there needed to be more. What about, I thought, after watching a documentary on women in India, if we tried living on a bucket of water for a day?

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By Ken Craig
I take pride in the fact that my family is a “service-oriented” family. (If anything, then, I suppose my “taking pride” is the sin du jour in my home, and not “lack of serving.”) I currently serve as the bishop in my ward, and that’s pretty service-intensive. My wife is the mother of six, so she literally lives service from sun up to sun down.
However, somewhere there’s a disconnect with our children. They seem to feel they should be paid a handsome salary for just about any action, from chores to common courtesy.

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By Nettie H. Francis
I love the story of Adam and Eve and all that it symbolizes. But lately (maybe because it’s summertime and all of my children are home all day) I especially appreciate Adam.

My life right now is one of work. From dawn ‘til dusk I spend my hours cooking, cleaning, caring and cooking, cleaning and caring some more. There is never a dull moment, nor a break in my duties. I don’t mind them. In fact, since I was little, I wanted to be a mother and do exactly what I am doing right now. However, what I have come to understand, more than ever, is that I could not do what I do without a good husband.

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By Alison Palmer
Scripture: 2 Nephi 4:15

Song: “Search, Ponder, and Pray” Children’s Songbook, 109

Preparation: Print a picture of William Tyndale from the internet and gather pictures of Nephi and Joseph Smith. Collect pencils and a stack of index cards to write phrases from the scriptures.
Prayerfully read “The Blessing of Scripture” Elder D. Todd Christofferson, Ensign, May 2010, 32-35.

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As Hector Lopez runs against the frigid Chicago wind clutching the bleeding girl in his arms, he hopes his ailing heart doesn’t fail before he reaches the medical clinic. Even after safely delivering the child and continuing on his way to work, Hector cannot forget the image of the little girl curled up like a rag doll in a small pool of mostly frozen blood. And if he could possibly forget the incident, the Chicago Police Department will not let him—particularly detective Lee Tierney, whose prejudiced eye sees a killer in this Good Samaritan.

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By Leslie Albrecht Huber
In July, many of us turn our thoughts to the pioneers who made their way to Utah during the mid-1800s. When we think of these pioneers, we imagine their journey beginning in Nauvoo, Illinois. But for many of the Utah-bound pioneers, the journey started long before they ever took a step beside a covered wagon. Many had already been traveling for months and for thousands of miles. For thousands of early LDS converts, the journey to Zion began in Western Europe. One of these immigrants was my great-great-great-grandmother, Kerstina Nilsdotter.

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When most people think of “pioneers,” the images that come to mind include covered wagons, dusty trails, women in long skirts and bonnets and men in wide-brimmed hats. While this may be what Mormon pioneer ancestors wore and how they travelled, there is much more to their story. The essence of their story is not the external trappings; it is in their hearts.

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By Dave Ellis
My wife tells me that I don’t sleep normally as I sometimes stop breathing. Basically my sleep mode goes into sleep mode. This startles her as she has taken some medical courses and told me that you need to breathe to live. That course was well worth the money.

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By Danielle Ellis
This Pioneer Day, join the longest-running celebration in Southern Nevada. The North Las Vegas Stake will host its 35th Pioneer Day event, which will feature all of the time-tested food and fun for which the event is known. The festivities are Friday and Saturday, July 23rd and 24th at Stephenson Park, on the corner of Walnut and Carey, Las Vegas.

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By Danielle Ellis
Todd Larkin and Stan Nielson of Las Vegas have just been called as new mission presidents. President Larkin will preside over the Seattle Washington Mission, and President Nielson will preside over the Warsaw Poland Mission. These men aren’t just from the same city, they are from the same stake. In fact, President Larkin was recently released as the president of the Lakes Stake. President Nielson was his first counselor in the stake presidency. His second counselor, John Bunker, was called to preside over the California Santa Rosa Mission a year ago. So the entire Lakes Stake presidency will be serving as mission presidents. The general authority who released the presidency last year told President Nielson recently that he was unaware of any other time when two members of the same stake presidency had been called simultaneously as mission presidents, let alone that all three men had been called.

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By Krista Ralston Oakes
My husband and I have traveled to Washington D.C., visiting the National Mall and taking the sobering steps through memorials that remind us of the price that was paid for the cause of liberty. Among these are the World War II Memorial, with its 4,000 gold stars – each representing 100 U.S. casualties; the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, which bears over fifty-eight thousand names of lost or missing American heroes on its granite wall; and the Korean War Veterans Memorial, with the faces of unnamed soldiers near the words, “Freedom is Not Free.”

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By Nettie H. Francis
I served a full-time mission in Japan. The volcanic mountains, speckled with terraced rice paddies and sloping steeply down to the blue ocean, were a new sight to a girl from Utah. I quickly fell in love with the beauty of the islands and the many people there. In the less-populated areas, mountain trails—carefully marked and laid with cement pathways and wooden steps—insured that thousands of visitors could reach the peaks to enjoy precious bits of untouched nature. I soon became accustomed to crowded streets and cities, and tiny houses crammed into every feasible living space.

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By Danielle Ellis
For anyone interested in going to college, there are plenty of questions. Which classes should I take now? Where should I apply? How do I pick a major? How do I choose a career? Should I go to a big university or a small college? Is it even worth going to college now?

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