Would you dare to carry around a talking rattlesnake?

March 17, 2019 Good morning Brandon, I am surprised I have not printed this off and sent it to you yet! Last Sunday our Bishop was asked to speak in anticipation of Ward Conference which is today. YOU may remember his Stake Conference talk about the sacrament that floored me and that I sent to you. I had never heard anything like it. To have Sacrament meeting be like a funeral for Jesus and his body to be under the white alter right there on the stand for all of us to take of was a mind blowing concept. @ Bishop Beau Barney speaks humbly but courageously. And some of his concepts cut right to the core. I asked him for a copy of his talk. This is the email I wrote him asking/ requesting:I tried but I couldn't keep up. (notes in my journal)Sun, Mar 10, 3:23 PM (7 days ago)

to beau\Dear Bishop Barney,\Thank you for teasing your wife so mercilessly before she spoke. You are human after all! :) She said she is used to it.\
I carefully looked up :
26 And we atalk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we bprophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our cchildren may know to what source they may look for a dremission of their sins. \


1- talk of Christ

2- rejoice in Christ

3- preach of Christ

4- prophecy of Christ

5- write of Christ\

How many of those do I do?\By the time you included that at the end of your talk we were all waiting for an answer to our problems, all the problems you had reminded us of. WE WANTED THE ANSWER!\And it is an answer we can do/ actuate / follow/ perform. It is not an impossible answer. We just have to make room in our lives to do it.\You already know why I am writing this letter. I want a copy of your talk if at all possible. _____\Yep you have to fill in the blank.\\B. Q. Adams contributed 3 or 4 times in EQ today. I went to briefly visit with him afterwards. He loved Sister Jen Barney's talk. I told Sister Jen that she was phenomenal and that I deeply appreciated her sharing personal efforts to be intentional parents like:

1-reading the BoM as a family last Oct -Jan.

2-sharing how daughters/son call asking to be picked up when a PG-13 is being shown at a friend's house.\You know the law of witnesses: Law of witnesses: in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established, D&C 6:28 (Deut. 17:6; Matt. 18:16; 2 Cor. 13:1; Ether 5:4; D&C 128:3). \I tried to confirm/ compliment/ reassure BQAdams by asking him how he felt as he heard you explain about the dangers of smart phones. He said, "We have had many talks about this over the years." Then I tried to send it home by saying: "I thought I was listening to Bishop Adams up there today."\Dear Bishop, Thank you for your tremendous courage. Not very many will take it to heart. But they will remember each time they think about that rattlesnake. \Admiringly & Respectfully,\Vern\PS. I gave the CD of "Mothers that Know" and a personal letter to a daughter in law last year, hoping. . . \I haven't heard back yet Just waiting for the right opportunity to follow up. We'll see.\

beau.barney@gmail.com\Sun, Mar 10, 4:04 PM (7 days ago)\to me\

You are very kind Vern! I will send you a copy a little later this evening.\

Ward Conference Theme (2 Nephi 25:26)

Snake Story: A little boy was walking down a path and he came across a rattlesnake. The rattlesnake was getting old. He asked, "Please little boy, can you take me to the top of the mountain? I hope to see the sunset one last time before I die." The little boy answered "No Mr. Rattlesnake. If I pick you up, you'll bite me and I'll die." The rattlesnake said, "No, I promise. I won't bite you. Just please take me up to the mountain." The little boy thought about it and finally picked up that rattlesnake and took it close to his chest and carried it up to the top of the mountain.

They sat there and watched the sunset together. It was so beautiful. Then after sunset the rattlesnake turned to the little boy and asked, "Can I go home now? I am tired, and I am old." The little boy picked up the rattlesnake and again took it to his chest and held it tightly and safely. He came all the way down the mountain holding the snake carefully and took it to his home to give him some food and a place to sleep. The next day the rattlesnake turned to the boy and asked, "Please little boy, will you take me back to my home now? It is time for me to leave this world, and I would like to be at my home now." The little boy felt he had been safe all this time and the snake had kept his word, so he would take it home as asked.

He carefully picked up the snake, took it close to his chest, and carried him back to the woods, to his home to die. Just before he laid the rattlesnake down, the rattlesnake turned and bit him in the chest. The little boy cried out and threw the snake upon the ground. "Mr. Snake, why did you do that? Now I will surely die!" The rattlesnake looked up at him and grinned, "You knew what I was when you picked me up." [v- I hate that story! You are supposed to teach little kids kindness!]

Sister Joy Jones: (Primary General President of the Church) recently said: In today’s world, I see many parents handing their child a snake. I am speaking of smartphones. Even in impoverished countries, I have witnessed children using smartphones. The trend seems to be the same wherever I go, whether in Utah, Europe, Asia, or West Africa. I recently spoke with a youth leader whose opinion was that “putting a cell phone with an internet connection into the pocket of a young person is like placing a hot coal in their pocket—they will get burned.” [#2 stabbingly true concept]

We cannot put cell phones with internet access into the hands of young children who aren’t old enough to have been sufficiently taught, do not yet have necessary reasoning and decision-making abilities, and who don’t have parental controls and other tools to help protect them. Every phone should have safeguards... This is also good counsel for adults. No one is immune to the bite of a poisonous snake.

• So, brothers and sisters, in what ways can our smartphones be considered poisonous or deadly today? Let me just mention a few:

1. Pornography 2. Social Media 3. A constant flow of unworthy music 4. Mind-numbing or violent video games 5. Binge watching Netflix or YouTube videos

All of which are highly addictive and have been linked to much of the increase in anxiety, depression, and suicide we are seeing today. [What? This seems way over the top.-v]

For example: pornography is so addictive and so destructive to society that the General Manager of the KC Royal’s baseball team (Dayton Moore) actively addresses the issue with his players and publicly fights against it. He says: “When we continue to look the other way, it’s not going to get better. What you permit, you promote, what you fail to confront, you condone.” [I tried to write this one down but it was gone after the first effort.-v Moore wants us to take a stand and not allow certain things in our presence. Does that mean our Bishop wants us to do that too? I suspect so. What you permit, you promote, what you fail to confront, you condone.” ]

As for social media: (Colin Kartchner/Social Media Activist) has shared the following: Social media's negative effects on youth mental health and too much screen-time is the underlying link to the current epidemic rise in teen depression and anxiety, eating disorders, self-harming, suicide ideation and suicide itself. We must teach our kids that their worth does not come from likes, followers, or Snapchat streaks. [Jargon that I don’t use.-v] And yet this issue is not just with youth. He continues: Smart phones and social media are the new drug of choice in homes. They hooked parents, disconnected them from their kids, distracted us from who is truly important, and taught us that "likes" = self worth--and now our kids are modeling us. Kids need our eyes and our love and validation more than ever before. Showing your kids you love them is 2% effort and 98% just putting down your phone. (Colin Kartchner-Local Social Media Activist) [v-those numbers made me stop and think. I personally don’t believe that one.]

(In a recent address to Seminary and Institute teachers, Elder Rasband explained what’s going on with our youth in the Church: He taught:

Fear and despair: that’s what is going on. Fear of not being accepted by friends. Fear of academic performance1, pressures, and problems at home2 they can’t solve. Fear that they can trust no one3 and no one trusts them4. Fear of being alone5, and fear of being in groups6. Fear that they are a burden to others7. Fear of organized religion or any religion8. Fear that there is no solution or relief to their pain9. Fear prompts discouragement and despair, anxiety and depression; fear fuels frustrations that have no good conclusion. [v-Fear also fuels frustration and anger that can be focussed to effectuate helpful resolutions and conclusions. I know, I practice it regularly. Fear God and live! 13 ¶ Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.] Fear believes that no one will understand and, worse yet, that no one even asks, “What’s the matter?” Fear in its many forms is manifest unfortunately in the cruelest of conclusions—suicide. [v-Yikes, our bishop dared to mention suicide? #3]

When Utah’s governor set up a task force last year to tackle the surge in teen suicides, he asked President Nelson to appoint a Church leader to that service. President Nelson assigned me the daunting responsibility. I have learned no one is immune. Teen suicide is a crisis reaching all around the world. Statistics show that suicide is now among the three leading causes of death among youth ages 15 to 24. And this: “Suicide attempts are 20 times more frequent than completed suicides.” Those, my dear brothers and sisters, are cruel statistics.

We must all face this issue. As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we must commit to do everything we can to reshape the thinking that suicide is an answer, a response even worth considering. We must talk to teens about suicide and love them out of considering it as a solution to their pain. President Monson’s life embodied the phrase “to the rescue.” We need to take that as our charge.

Brothers and Sisters, let me tell you what else is happening to our society and especially our youth. They are becoming desensitized. [v- i have experienced this! In fact it is hard to remain feeling and sensitized.] The term used to describe this in the scriptures is past feeling. Many of them are not feeling things. Many are losing a sense of sacred things. Many are almost like Zombies simply going through the motions of life in a virtual way at best. [#4 another potent word: Zombies-v]

This is one of Satan’s great tricks. He is cheating many souls out of having a mortal experience at all because he can’t have one. He is tempting us to become so involved in technology and media today that at best we have a virtual life and no real physical experience at all. [I watched a youtube video this week of a guy who put on his virtual goggles for a week! After he removed them he loved the fresh air and outside smells of nature. Nothing can replace those. (and there you are Brandon stuck in prison. Do they ever let you out to feel the wind, rain, smell the spring air or watch the clouds in the sky?)-v]

Elder D. Todd Christofferson has explained it this way: The importance of having a sense of the sacred is simply this—if one does not appreciate holy things, he will lose them. Absent a feeling of reverence, he will grow increasingly casual in attitude and lax in conduct. He will drift from the moorings that his covenants with God could provide. His feeling of accountability to God will diminish and then be forgotten. Thereafter, he will care only about his own comfort and satisfying his uncontrolled appetites. Finally, he will come to despise sacred things, even God, and then he will despise himself. (“A Sense of the Sacred,” BYU Devotional, November 7, 2004) [v- the still small voice.]

If we are paying attention brothers and sisters, this is precisely what we are seeing today. Everything God initiates, Satan imitates. His imitation of Sacred things are secret things. His tactic is for us to keep things secret and hidden without anyone knowing. Many youth today are trying to hide so much that eventually it overcomes them, they don’t know how to fully cope with or to fully communicate about these secret things. [v- #5 anti secret. I agree.]

Brothers and Sisters, if you are not aware of all that is happening on your children’s phones, devices, or computers then, let me be bold enough to say to you that you have no idea what is going on in your child’s life and there may be many secrets you are unaware of. Many youth today live on their phones. (Unfortunately, many adults and spouses do too)

Truly brothers and sisters, we do have a deadly snake problem among us as modern-day Israel. Yet, so did ancient Israel. In fact, the scriptures teach us that there were many fiery serpents among them, they bit the people, and much of the people of Israel died.

What could they do to solve their snake problem? After they had been bitten, the Lord prepared a way that they might be healed. It was simple: All they had to do was to look; (If they would simply cast their eyes upon the brazen serpent which Moses did raise up on a pole before them, they would live. But, because of the simpleness of the way, or the easiness of it, there were many who perished. (1 Nephi 17:41)

Symbolically, the brazen serpent on the pole represented Jesus Christ who in the meridian of time would Atone for all sin, be raised upon the cross and crucified that we might be healed physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally, and in every other way possible.

Brothers and Sisters, for us the answer is just as simple today. And yet because it’s so simple, many around us today are dying physically and spiritually because many are too unwilling1, too distracted2, too selfish3, too worldly4, too concerned about being popular5, or just simply too lazy6 to look to Christ and live and teach their children to do the same. [#6 powerful labels-v]

Brothers and Sisters, this type of effort on our part will simply not be good enough. We cannot afford any more physical or spiritual casualties, especially among us. Yet, brothers and sisters, I can testify that if we don’t change anything in our own lives and if we don’t choose today to be “Intentional Parents” like President Nelson and my dear, sweet wife Jen has just taught us, the problem won’t get better, it will in reality get much, much worse.

So, where do we start?

Well, first it would be best to avoid the poisonous serpents in the first place. In the words of, President Ezra Taft Benson: “it is better to prepare and prevent than it is to repair and repent.” [#7 this one gives me a big, BIG smile.-v]

(“The Law of Chastity,” New Era, Jan. 1988, 6)
So, what preventative measures can we take? Dan Coats: (Senator of Indiana) explained: There is something very wrong when children are treated as obstacles to parental self-fulfillment... It creates young people who later find themselves unable to form their own families. [OUCH! Should we take that one personal?-v] And this self-centered destruction of the family is not only an individual tragedy, it is a national crisis. [It is so nice to know that even a guy in Indiana is noticing!-v] (“America’s Youth: A Crisis of Character”) Sister Julie Beck (General RS President) speaking of “Mothers Who Know” explained: They allow less media in their homes, less distraction, less activity that draws their children away from their home. Mothers who know are willing to live on less and consume less of the world’s goods in order to spend more time with their children—more time eating together, more time working together, more time reading together, more time talking, laughing, singing, and exemplifying. These mothers choose carefully and do not try to choose it all. Their goal is to prepare a rising generation of children who will take the gospel of Jesus Christ into the entire world. [I absolutely love it!-v This is the letter and CD I gave to Bonnie in ‘17. This one is personal to me.]

Their goal is to prepare future fathers and mothers who will be builders of the Lord’s kingdom for the next 50 years. That is influence; that is power. (“Mothers Who Know,” October 2007) Sister Joy D. Jones: Primary GP (Provides 5 very specific and practical ways we can do this in the home.) She says:

1. Some parents opt for flip phones for their children to limit usage to calling and texting. 2. I know families who have designated a single, high-traffic area in their home where electronic devices are used. These families call it a “media room,” and all their devices are kept in open view, in the light. Never is any one person alone in the/their-v room on a media device. 3. Other families have opted for rules like no phones in bedrooms or bathrooms. 4. Some simply say “never alone with a phone.” [v- those are 5 nice powerful simple words but impossible to to keep/ adhere to.] 5. Still others gradually add access to apps their children can use with software that allows the child’s phone to be configured by the parent. This way they teach that trust is earned and that phone safety is important. Whatever the needs are for our individual families, let’s teach each family member to use technology wisely and positively from the start—to develop a moral mindset. She warns: “You wouldn’t take your children and leave them alone in the middle of NYC, but that’s effectively what you’re doing when you allow them to go into cyberspace alone.”[1] Jason S. Carroll, a professor of family life at BYU, stated, “We safeguard our children until the time they can safeguard themselves.” The brain stem, which houses the pleasure centers of the brain, develops first. Only later do the reasoning and decision-making abilities in the frontal cortex fully develop. “So kids have the gas pedal without the full brake.”[2] [#8 stabbingly true concept.-v]

In reality, it was the Nephite parents that had the ultimate solution: (And this is the scriptural theme for next week’s ward conference) They declared: 2 Nephi 25:26 26 And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.

Elder Rasband: Added: Jesus is the Answer. Dear President Nelson has said, “When the focus of our lives is on God’s plan of salvation ... and Jesus Christ and His gospel, we can feel joy regardless of what is happening—or not happening—in our lives.”

This is illustrated well in the biblical episode of Peter walking on water: Matthew 14:28-32 (We read:) 28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. 29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. 31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? 32 And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.

When Peter’s focus was on Christ, miracles occured in his life. When he focused on the world around him, he sunk into fear and deep despair. So, it is with each of us. [#9 stabbingly true concept. Stabbed right to the heart.-v]

So, brothers and sisters, how can we look to and focus on Christ and avoid the many worldly distractions around us today? I would invite each of us to look to and focus on Christ in the following 3 ways:

1. Teach the Gospel in your home and make it a priority 2. Communicate openly and often with your children in a spirit of love 3. Focus on Christ through sacred ordinances and the temple

1. Teach the Gospel in the home: (How can we best do this?) Follow the prophet by studying the Come Follow Me curriculum as a family and hold regular FHE Teach your children to live the standards found in the FSOY pamphlet Teach and encourage your children to study the scriptures personally for themselves. Encourage enrollment in Seminary & Institute courses.

2. Communicate openly in a spirit of love Take more time for your kids. Time to just talk to them and to listen to them, open up a line of communication Don’t be too busy with other things that don’t really matter Don’t selfishly put your own hobbies and interests above your kids.

3. Ordinances and the Temple: Do indexing, Family History, and be worthy to attend the temple as a family. Come prepared to partake of the sacrament worthily each week and focus on the Savior instead of distracting devices. Make the temple and your covenants your top priority.

Brothers and Sisters, as we look to Christ and focus on Him in these ways, we will come to realize what Sister Dew realized when she said:

Sister Sheri Dew: (The Savior isn’t our last chance; He is our only chance. [#9 again!-v] Our only chance to overcome self-doubt and catch a vision of who we may become. Our only chance to repent and have our sins washed clean. Our only chance to purify our hearts, subdue our weaknesses, and avoid the adversary. Our only chance to obtain redemption and exaltation. Our only chance to find peace and happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come. (April 1999) [b e a u t i f u l - v ]

We will also come to realize what the exemplary intentional parent Helaman taught his two son’s Nephi and Lehi when he said:

Helaman 5:12 12 And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

Brothers and Sisters, may you and I more than ever before, look to Christ and live both physically and spiritually! Let us be of good cheer and find joy in the journey despite our circumstances. As we do our part and really try, the grace of Christ will save us from our fears and our sins. May we have the courage to do what it takes to have no secrets.

If you have been bitten by this poisonous serpent in any way, I plead with you to come see me and let me help you get the poisonous venom out of your soul before it becomes fatal. [v-As only a bishop can invite!]

My dear brothers and Sisters come unto Christ and be healed. He is the light, He is the Rock. If we will focus on Him, we will be of good cheer and through Him we will overcome the world. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. @@@ Can you see why I wanted a copy of that talk? Holy Cow! . . . . .

His wife, Jen, spoke before he did. If you want a copy, I have one. Intentional Parenting. BBB said that: A new bishop is chosen by the most righteous wife in the ward. Sunnie Adams gave us Bishop Q. Adams. Jen Barney gives us Bishop B. Barney. Cute huh! Yes we give lip service in the church. I wonder if the women have come to expect it? Or if they truly believe it? I haven’t been able to figure this one out yet.

Wed. 3/20/19 good morning Brandon, Life is good, I am blessed! FSprogram is down. Yesterday was day 4 of 6 days of missionary orientation. I felt draggy on Monday and came 15min late, I wore my white tie. I felt ready yesterday so I wore a deep azalia tie/deep red violet. I haven’t ever worn one of those before. I put on my red plastic framed glasses to match. No one even commented. @ Bonnie Sewell is our teacher. She is so lively and loud! It has been fun to get to know her better after 5 years of us being here together. She was a beauty! But she is so old and wrinkled now. But her smile would still light a stadium. There are some things I particularly like about her and when I chose to take this class from her last month I made a good choice. 1- She may be loud but she is gentle. Nearly impossible! 2- She never watches the news and doesn’t care about politics. They drag us down and so she is like me and has isolated herself from the world. Her sister needed counseling and the therapist said to skip the news as it is so depressing. So Bonnie took that advice too. She closed the sharing by saying: Maybe that is why I am so happy! Cute huh. 3- The depth and breadth of family history is nearly unmeasurable. And she is exposing us to as much as possible. She has lab activities for us to test our understanding. I love lab activities! Can you imagine? Two wonderful successes yesterday: I got logged into my Ancestry account and I transferred a gedcom! My ancestry account hasn’t been touched for 4 years. I did not even think I had one. Evidently when some missionary helped me back then they must have signed me up. I was shocked. I was just like all the patrons who come in here and say they have never had an account but really have, they just don’t remember. Some good news, my password was the same! 3- Bonnie, like me, has had very few experiences with the other side. Some saints come in here with spiritual communications all over the place. Not her and not I. But she shared one special one she did have yesterday. Back at a girl’s camp on Kolob one year she was asked to share a biography of a pioneer ancestor. She studied him carefully and and with the beautiful sunset on Kolob lake she finished her expose and said how proud she was of her grandfather and that she loved him. She heard him reply, “And I love you granddaughter.” 4- Bonnie classifies her work as fast and dirty versus slow and precise. I showed EHCheney my personal monthly reviewing totals reaching up to 150k last year. I got there by being fast and dirty. I can’t stand wasted effort! I have concentrated on indexing with a goal of 3k per month this year. It fits me so much better. 5- She has done family history her whole life. Not me. 6- She is open and candid, maybe to a fault. Same with me. Such a rich experience to get to know her. @@@ Monday I asked if there was an easy way to see who were your first ancestors to join the church. She said no. That was disappointing. @ I was surprised to not have any of my mother’s siblings listed in FS! After looking at other missing siblings I realized that of course they did not show. . . they are still alive! Their info and ID’s are protected until they die. One more thing I had to learn the hard way!

extra words from John the Baptist

Sunday, 2/3/19 Hello Brandon, I just got home from SS. When you read these 12 verses what does it remind you of?


6 And John saw and bore record of the fulness of my glory, and the fulness of John’s record is hereafter to be revealed.7 And he bore record, saying: I saw his glory, that he was in the beginning, before the world was;8 Therefore, in the beginning the Word was, for he was the Word, even the messenger of salvation—9 The light and the Redeemer of the world; the Spirit of truth, who came into the world, because the world was made by him, and in him was the life of men and the light of men.10 The worlds were made by him; men were made by him; all things were made by him, and through him, and of him.11 And I, John, bear record that I beheld his glory, as the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, even the Spirit of truth, which came and dwelt in the flesh, and dwelt among us.12 And I, John, saw that he received not of the fulness at the first, but received grace for grace;13 And he received not of the fulness at first, but continued from grace to grace, until he received a fulness;14 And thus he was called the Son of God, because he received not of the fulness at the first.15 And I, John, bear record, and lo, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Ghost descended upon him in the form of a dove, and sat upon him, and there came a voice out of heaven saying: This is my beloved Son.16 And I, John, bear record that he received a fulness of the glory of the Father;17 And he received all power, both in heaven and on earth, and the glory of the Father was with him, for he dwelt in him.18 And it shall come to pass, that if you are faithful you shall receive the fulness of the record of John. @


? What did it remind you of? John 1? Yep! Guess who is speaking in John 1? Surprise! Not John the disciple but John the Baptist. @@@ Tuesday, 2/12/19 Hello Brandon, My eyes are doing their msg thing, monosodiumglutamate, so I can write better than I can see. We have a Mr. Prickles in my BOM class and Mr. Prickles in my EQ. RexC and HalD are their real names. My swedish accented convert friend, Bert, came and sat by me Friday and I said, Good class last night huh? He disagreed. He said he was so affected by the things that Rex said that he was shaking and praying to survive. He said he sat between Karye and I so he could feel protected when he saw Rex was attending. I told Bert that I had already processed the Rex stuff by vmail with janice and that I was basking in the sweetness of Lisa’s vulnerability through a couple of her stories and sharings. Bert shared his feelings of Rex’s comments seeming like personal attacks: 1- Even though baptized you have to repent of your sins one at a time. Baptism does not automatically cleanse you. 2- People go to the temple to check off a box. No one goes for any deeper reason. 3- It doesn’t matter how righteous you are, you will be tested to your bitterest end. The sinners have to pay and continue to pay the uttermost senine. The righteous will be tested and tested and will be no happier in this life than the wicked and addicted. 4- Love is a junk word! People, even church members just lump everything into that word. They have no clue of what it really means and to tell the truth, God does not love us, he is just trying to discipline us. A better word for love is knowledge. We are here to gain knowledge and experience, not experience love. 5- There is no sense in studying the lesson beforehand. I already know it better than everyone else and if I study it I am bored by the repetition in class. 6- Repeating the same story in the different gospels is a drag and boring as well. We were assigned Matt 4 & Luke 4,5 the week after we did John 1. What good is the repetition?@ I tried to reassure Bert in many ways. A- Rex was a psychotherapist who worked with drug addicts and divorce cases referred to him by the court. He is absolutely brilliant. He can quote scriptures better than anyone I know. He has a vocabulary that is extensive and his debates are convincing. B- He doesn’t wear temple garments. He said he has never been to the temple. He has no idea of what goes on there in real life. Those of us who love and enjoy the temple couldn’t convince him that it blesses us if we wanted to. C- He believes we are all addicted and all unrepentant. He believes we are fakes, hypocrites. No one can be motivated by love! Only by fear or duty. D- He comes to spread his dissatisfaction. He would rather we were all miserable. E- he sponsors many alcoholics in AA. Lisa made a good point when she said that those without the church are truly blessed by AA. Personally I believe that AA or personal therapy are necessary to overcome deep traumatic based addictions like mine. The regular church attendance and bishop interviews can’t meet the needs of those truly emotionally ill. HF has given us more than one avenue of help. @ So Janice and I glory in the level of discussion that takes place when Rex is gone. I was tempted to confront Rex but there was a delay and when Lisa called on me I withdrew my comment. On #5&6 above how many times do we repeat the sacrament prayers? Can’t repetition be a form of praise and worship? Also, what about God’s law of testimonies. He does not expect us to believe if there is only one! And lastly, each gospel writer was unique. Matthew quotes old testament prophets to convince the Jews. Luke doesn’t. He is a physician and travels with Paul, he is speaking to us, the gentiles. I really feel strongly about those 3 arguments, but I withdrew my hand and comments for fear that engaging Rex in conflict and often contention is just what he wants. (This is a conclusion we have come to after class when Rex was gone. Oppositional.) @@@Sunday, 2/17/19Good morning Brandon, Some things we seldom hear from the first presidency for example have you ever heard them ask us to fast and pray for a general authority? It happened once but with failure. BKP addressed it like this: I hope it is not presumptuous of me to place into the record of this conference, and therefore into the history of the Church, a note to complete the record of the last one.


In the last session of October conference, Elder A. Theodore Tuttle gave a touching and inspiring sermon on faith. He spoke from his heart, with scriptures in hand, without a prepared text. When he had concluded, President Hinckley, who conducted that session, said:


“I should perhaps be guilty of an indiscretion, but I think I will risk it and say that Brother Tuttle has been seriously ill and he needs our faith, the faith of which he has spoken. It will be appreciated if those who have listened to him across the Church would plead with our Father in Heaven, in the kind of faith which he has described, in his behalf” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1986, p. 93).


President Ezra Taft Benson, who was the concluding speaker, endorsed what President Hinckley had said and appealed himself for fasting and prayers of faith for the recovery of Brother Tuttle.


But Brother Tuttle did not recover. He died seven weeks later.


Now, lest there be one whose faith was shaken, believing prayers were not answered, or lest there be one who is puzzled that the prophet himself could plead for the entire Church to fast and pray for Brother Tuttle to live and yet he died, I will tell you of an experience.


I had intended to tell this at his funeral, but my feelings were too tender that day to speak of it.






How would you explain that Brandon? I just finished these two conferences. Elder Tuttle’s talk was so touching that I wanted to send it to my beleaguered sister Gayelinn. Gordon B Hinkley and President ETB plead with us to pray and fast for him. They loved him. As you read Elder Tuttle’s talk see if you don’t feel a warmth and reaching out? OCTOBER 1986 | Developing Faith @My beloved brothers and sisters, I would be ungrateful if I did not thank the many of you who have prayed for my well-being over the past few months. Medical science is marvelous, but above and beyond that, it takes special blessings from our Heavenly Father for healing to occur. I appreciate your prayers in my behalf.\I was told of a conversation by a Primary teacher, who related what transpired in his class. He was teaching the eleven-year-olds. He asked the question, “Suppose the Lord asked you to build a spaceship big enough to take you and your family and provisions off this planet? Could you do it?”\Steve spoke up and said, “Yes.”\And the teacher said, “Have you ever built a spaceship?”\“No.”\“Have you ever built a model spaceship?”\“No.”\“Have you ever seen one?”\Steve said, “Yes, on TV.” But then he declared, “You said the Lord told me to build it. If the Lord told me to build it, I could do it.”\I wonder how many of us as adults have that kind of faith. I would like to read in the Book of Mormon a great example of this kind of faith. I go to the seventeenth chapter of 1 Nephi:\“And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto me [Nephi], saying: Thou shalt construct a ship, after the manner which I shall show thee, that I may carry thy people across these waters” (1 Ne. 17:8).\Listen to the answer of this great Nephi:\“And I said: Lord, whither shall I go that I may find ore to molten, that I may make tools to construct the ship after the manner which thou hast shown unto me?” (1 Ne. 17:9).\And when his brothers realized that he was actually going to set about to build a ship, they said: “Why, you’re a fool. You don’t know how to construct a ship” (see 1 Ne. 17:17).\And then Nephi set about to teach them a great lesson.\How do you develop faith?\Let’s learn a great lesson from what transpired with Nephi. He started to recount the things that had happened that they all knew were a part of their heritage. He went back to the coming of the children of Israel out of Egypt. He said: “You know what happened. There they were right against the Red Sea with the Egyptians coming, and the Lord saved them” (see 1 Ne. 17:26–27).\Then he goes on and talks about how they received manna in the wilderness, how they received water from a rock, how the Lord led them by a pillar of cloud in the daytime and a light at night, and how when they crossed the Jordan, it stopped when the feet of the priests touched the water (see 1 Ne. 17:28–30, 32; see also Ex. 13:21, Josh. 3:15–17). And then Nephi tells how the Lord scattered the people; and then how, when they came among the flying serpents, Moses fashioned a brazen serpent, raised it, and all they had to do was look at that serpent, and they would be healed. The account says that many perished because they wouldn’t even look (see 1 Ne. 17:32, 41; see also Num. 21:8–9).\He was trying to do what you and I as parents need to do with our families today—to develop faith in the Lord. And the way to do it is to recount the examples of faith that have happened in our history and in our heritage and with our people. That’s the value of history. It contains accounts of faith of our own blood and ancestry and of our own people and our children. As has already been said in this conference, we cannot go one generation without losing faith if we do not do this. And to rear a generation of faith for what we must do in these days, you and I simply must develop and increase faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.\There’s another principle: that is, that faith precedes the miracle. This lesson is found in Ether, chapter 12. You’ll recall that Moroni was abridging the records of the twenty-four plates, and this is what he records:\“And it came to pass that Ether did prophesy great and marvelous things unto the people, which they did not believe, because they saw them not” (Ether 12:5).\They couldn’t see them; they wouldn’t believe them. They needed to be taught that believing is seeing. And then Moroni interpolates here:\“And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith” (Ether 12:6).\We need to learn that. We can’t have just faith. We cannot have the miracle until after the exercise of faith. Moroni sets forth on the next page or so instances of those miracles that have occurred after the trial of the faith of the people. We need to learn that principle as well.\I recall that when I was twenty years old, I went for an interview with the bishop to go on a mission. When I returned, my mother, all smiles, said, “Well, Ted, what did the bishop say?”\“He said I couldn’t go.”\“Why not?” my mother asked.\And I said, “Because we don’t have enough money.”\“If my father could leave two children and another to be born shortly after he left, you can go.”\I said, “I know that, but the bishop doesn’t.”\Parenthetically, I might say that he was doing his job right. He asked me if I had any money. I told him I had a few hundred dollars that I had earned that summer.\He said, “Then what?”\I said, “My dad would send it to me.”\He said, \I said, “No,” and he didn’t. We had lost our sheep herd during the Depression. My father was a livestock dealer buying lambs and wool on commission, and that was a very uncertain income.\The bishop said, “The Brethren have had some serious experiences, and so you cannot go unless you can guarantee that you’ll have sufficient money.”\I accepted that, and that’s what I told my mother.\That night we waited for Dad to come home and then held a family council. We concluded that we didn’t then have enough money—and that we wouldn’t, so far as we could see, anytime in the future. We decided to ask our neighbor, Tom Anderson, a rather wealthy man, if he would help. When we explained our situation, he said, “You tell the bishop that I will ‘back you.’”\Before the bishop opened his business the next morning, I was there waiting to tell him that Tom Anderson said he would back me. The bishop said, “That’s all I need to know.”\The interesting thing was that we never did have to call on Brother Anderson. My folks would send that check and with it a note, “This is for this month, and we’ll have the next month’s, too.”\I am a product of a household of faith. I learned faith in my home. I was taught it. It was drilled into me. I need that faith now as much as I ever did.\I think we all do. We’re not going to survive in this world, temporally or spiritually, without increased faith in the Lord—and I don’t mean a positive mental attitude—I mean downright solid faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the one thing that gives vitality and power to otherwise rather weak individuals.\I bear you my humble witness that I know that God lives. I know that he lives, that he is our Father, that he loves us. I bear witness that Jesus is the Christ, our Savior and our Redeemer.\I understand better what that means now. I am grateful for his atonement in our behalf and for knowing something about our relationship to him and to our Heavenly Father and about the meaning and purpose of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am grateful for Joseph Smith. I know he was a prophet, and I know that President Ezra Taft Benson is a living prophet today. I bear that witness in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.@@@v-Now here is the rest of BKP: I had intended to tell this at his funeral, but my feelings were too tender that day to speak of it.


One Sunday when Brother Tuttle was at home, confined mostly to his bed, I spent a few hours with him while Marné and the family went to church.


He was deeply moved by the outpouring of love from across the world. Each letter extended prayers of faith for his recovery. Many of the messages came from South America, where the Tuttle family had labored for so many years.


That day we reviewed his life, beginning with his birth in Manti, Utah, to an ordinary Latter-day Saint couple. We talked of his father, whom I knew, and of his mother, a faithful temple worker.


He talked of his mission, his college days, his marriage to Marné Whitaker, and his heroic service in the Marines.


Then we relived our days teaching seminary in Brigham City and supervising the seminaries and institutes of religion.


He talked of his seven faithful children and the flock of grandchildren whom he always described as “the best kids in the world.”


He spoke of his call to the First Quorum of the Seventy and the assignments that followed. Soon the Tuttle family was called to South America. They were hardly settled back home when the Brethren interviewed him about returning.


Others could say, “Of course, if you should call us, we would go.” But not him, nor Marné, for they had made covenants. Without complaint, his wife and family followed him back time after time for a total of seven years.


No matter that he had never recovered from serious physical troubles which began on his first assignment there. That day Brother Tuttle spoke tenderly of the humble people of Latin America. They who have so little had greatly blessed his life.


He insisted that he did not deserve more blessings, nor did he need them. Others needed them more. And then he told me this: “I talked to the Lord about those prayers for my recovery. I asked if the blessings were mine to do with as I pleased. If that could be so, I told the Lord that I wanted him to take them back from me and give them to those who needed them more.”


He said, “I begged the Lord to take back those blessings and give them to others.”


Brother Tuttle wanted those blessings from our prayers for those struggling souls whom most of us hardly remember, but whom he could not forget.


The scriptures teach that “the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16).


Can you not believe that the Lord may have favored the pleadings of this saintly man above our own appeal for his recovery?


We do not know all things, but is it wrong to suppose that our prayers were not in vain at all? Who among us would dare to say that humble folk here and there across the continent of South America will not receive unexpected blessings passed on to them from this man who was without guile?


May not lofty purposes such as this be worked out in our lives if we are submissive?


Now, I know that skeptics may ridicule such things. But I, for one, am content to believe that our prayers were accepted and recorded and redirected to those whose hands hang down in despair, just as Brother Tuttle had requested.


In any case, ought we not to conclude all our prayers with “Let thy will, O Lord, be done”?


During his last weeks he was always pleasant, invariably comforting those who came to comfort him. I was present when he called his doctors to his bedside and thanked each one for the care he had received.


He was determined to live through Thanksgiving Day lest his passing cast a shadow of sorrow upon his family on that holiday in future years. That evening he saw each of his children, called those who were away, expressed his love and blessings, and bade them farewell. It was very late when they reached Clarie, who lives in Alaska, but his parting must be delayed until that was done.


Early the next morning, without resistance, with a spirit of quiet anticipation, he slipped away. At that moment, there came into that room a spirit of peace which surpasseth understanding.


Marné had been before, was then, and has been since, a perfect example of serenity and acceptance.


Now, to draw a lesson from this experience.


Brother Tuttle served twenty-eight years as a General Authority. He traveled the world. He supervised the work in Europe for a time. But with all the places he would go and all of the things he was to do, he repeatedly said that the crowning experience of his ministry was his service as president of the Provo Temple with his beloved Marné at his side.


Few know the demanding schedule of a temple president. The day may begin at three in the morning and end only too close to that same hour.


It was not that he was presiding over the temple but that the calling allowed him to be in the temple. He would have been quite content to serve under another. His feelings about that assignment were not due so much to his understanding of what a call is, as it was his understanding of what a covenantis.


A covenant is a sacred promise, as used in the scriptures, a solemn, enduring promise between God and man. The fulness of the gospel itself is defined as the new and everlasting covenant (see D&C 22:1; D&C 66:2).


Several years ago I installed a stake president in England. In another calling, he is here in the audience today. He had an unusual sense of direction. He was like a mariner with a sextant who took his bearings from the stars. I met with him each time he came to conference and was impressed that he kept himself and his stake on course.


Fortunately for me, when it was time for his release, I was assigned to reorganize the stake. It was then that I discovered what that sextant was and how he adjusted it to check his position and get a bearing for himself and for his members.


He accepted his release, and said, “I was happy to accept the call to serve as stake president, and I am equally happy to accept my release. I did not serve just because I was under call. I served because I am under covenant. And I can keep my covenants quite as well as a home teacher as I can serving as stake president.”


This president understood the word covenant.


While he was neither a scriptorian nor a gospel scholar, he somehow had learned that exaltation is achieved by keeping covenants, not by holding high position.


The mariner gets his bearing from light coming from celestial bodies—the sun by day, the stars by night. That stake president did not need a mariner’s sextant to set his course. In his mind there was a sextant infinitely more refined and precise than any mariner’s instrument.


The spiritual sextant, which each of us has, also functions on the principle of light from celestial sources. Set that sextant in your mind to the word covenantor the word ordinance. The light will come through. Then you can fix your position and set a true course in life.


No matter what citizenship or race, whether male or female, no matter what occupation, no matter your education, regardless of the generation in which one lives, life is a homeward journey for all of us, back to the presence of God in his celestial kingdom.


Ordinances and covenants become our credentials for admission into His presence. To worthily receive them is the quest of a lifetime; to keep them thereafter is the challenge of mortality.


Once we have received them for ourselves and for our families, we are obligated to provide these ordinances vicariously for our kindred dead, indeed for the whole human family.


Now, there are those who scoff at the idea of vicarious ordinances performed for the salvation of souls. They think it all to be very strange.


No thinking Christian should be surprised at such a doctrine. Was not the sacrifice of Christ a vicarious offering for and in behalf of all mankind? The very Atonement was wrought vicariously.


The Lord did for us what we could not do for ourselves. Is it not Christlike for us to perform in the temples ordinances for and in behalf of those who cannot do them for themselves?


Genealogies, or family histories, as I prefer to call them, are an indispensable part of temple work. Temples are nourished with names. Without genealogies, ordinances could be performed only for the living. Searching out the names of our kindred dead is a duty of consummate importance. There is a spirit which accompanies this work very similar to that which attends us in the temple itself.


Missionaries and those with small children may not be able to devote much time to this work at present, but you can keep the spirit of it. You can talk to the old folks and record what they say, keep family records, attend the temple.


There is the tendency on the part of some to regard genealogy work as a tedious, onerous burden. And they are quite content to leave it to the aged or to others “who have an interest in such things.”


Be careful! It may well be that those who have that interest in such things have chosen the better part. And I would say to you, if you are called to other service, or do not have an interest in genealogy, do not belittle or stand in the way of those who do. Give them every encouragement; contribute what you can.


The Prophet Joseph Smith said: “The doctrine or sealing power of Elijah is as follows:—If you have power to seal on earth and in heaven, then we should be wise. The first thing you do, go and seal on earth your sons and daughters unto yourself, and yourself unto your fathers in eternal glory” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1938, p. 340).


The Spirit of Elijah of which the prophets have spoken is very real and accompanies those who seek for the records of their kindred dead.


The more I have to do with genealogical work, the more difficulty I have with that word dead. I know of no adequate substitute. I suppose departed would suit me as well as any. I have had too many sacred experiences, of the kind of which we never speak lightly, to feel that the word dead describes those who have gone beyond the veil.


Temple and genealogy work are visible testimonies of our belief in the resurrection and atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. Should we doubt that we live again beyond the veil, what reason would we have to do the things we are doing?


This work is our witness of the redemptive power of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ.


Now what of Brother Tuttle or of his family? I remind you that it is a veil, not a wall, that separates us from the spirit world. He kept his covenants. Veils can become thin, even parted. We are not left to do this work alone.


They who have preceded us in this work and our forebears there, on occasion, are very close to us. I have a testimony of this work; it is a supernal work in the Church. I am a witness that those who go beyond the veil yet live and minister here, to the end that this work might be completed.


God grant that we who have an opportunity to have part in it might seek that opportunity and labor with all our might, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.


How do you feel Brandon? Did you learn anything? Man, sure did. One of the sweetest things I learned is that BKP wanted to share this at ATT’s funeral but felt too soggy, soft, overwhelmed, touched. Did you hear, read, recognize the strength of the statement: No thinking Christian. . . ? What powerful language! In my opinion BKP was all there. He had his real feelings and he had real courage. Not like me. It takes me a day or two to figure out what I am feeling sometimes. Brandon, this stuff is true. We are here to gain and prove our faith. The veil is often thin. This is just a blink in the eye of eternity. Your blink Probably seems very long, maybe even neverending but hopefully your conditions and work opportunity is better than it was at Purgatory. @@@ Monday, 2/18/19 FHE oops mine starts in 10 minutes! President Lorenzo Snow was sent to Italy by JS on a mission. I keep finding Lorenzos in Italy. I just realized how brilliant it was restore the church in this country so the settlers could go back to their homelands on missions! Amazing. @@@Sister Black, pink/purple glasses, gets frustrated with missionaries not being able to help indexers. She called them idiots twice today when I visited with her. She stopped to thank me for being here so she can take people that want to index to an expert instead of an idiot. Well, low and behold, Karla from the Paradise Spanish ward came in at 12:30 wanting to learn. I just helped her do a death record from El Salvador! Yippee! She had tried on her own and hadn’t had any luck. It had been so confusing. I asked which language she would like to work in and she said either. So I encouraged spanish because they have real birth-nacimiento, marriage-matrimonio, death-defuncion & records. Vital statistics. It was so cute. She really laughed when she tried to do a marriage for a birth. She gave me a high five and a fist bump when she succeeded on her second one. She felt the success! It gives me moist eyes and chills and thrills just writing about it. 1-I am so glad I followed up with sister Black. 2- I am so glad I heard that belnap’s el salvador records were good/simple. 3- Elder Linn E said that formless records work just like a boilerplate, so I had the courage to help her on the first one that came up. I could list 20 things Karla and I discovered along the way. It was so rich. She wanted to learn what all the tools were on the top bar but we only covered a few of them. The trash and add-an-entry and submit and ñ buttons were the most important. (4) We gold starred / favorited the two El Salvador projects.





We worked on a batch just like the above! It was so exciting by the end. I finished by telling how unselfish our work is. Indexing is helping the world. Even more altruistic than those working on their own ancestral lines. This is what the above record says:
1 #46
2 16 of Junio
3 1893
4 Miguel Hernandez
5 23 yo
6 son of Apolinar Hernandez and Manuela Perez
7 died today
8 of a stomach ache.

Karla’s death record died of dropsy. Her face was shining in joy as she closed and left for work at 1:30. I made her a key from her first record. :) I introduced myself as Vincenzo, brother Vincenzo and Elder Jim Fitz came and teased me about giving me a missionary tag. :) I am so happy. Tyhf. I told karla I have two of this shirt. She said she does the same. I’m here every day until noon and sometimes until 5 pm. She works from 1:30 until 10 pm so she would come in the morning. @@@Hello Brandon, A new month! Here is a meaningful email exchange:


Howard Cheney\Mar 8, 2019, 12:51 PM (1 day ago)\to me\\Don’t we all. Vern I should not be trying to dictate that anyway. You know where the needs are greatest so it is really up\To you and the spirit how you divide your time.\\I am just grateful for your dedication to the work!\Thank you!\\Elder Cheney\\Sent from my iPhone


On Mar 8, 2019, at 11:48 AM, vern jensen <phonev6@gmail.com> wrote:\\I spoke before I thought.\esterday I made a mistake in my commitment. There is no way I can index 100 italian records a day and do ten times that in Spanish reviewing.\I blew it when I promised to review ten times more than I index. Twice as much reviewing as indexing is a more reasonable promise for me.\Sorry. Sometimes I speak before I think. :(\v\PS. It was refreshing to hear answers to our questions. Sister Upton came to me and asked how to watch the workshop from last Thursday, she was feeling left out. I reassured her it was for leadership and that we had not let anyone down by not having watched. She felt better about not even having known.\Believe it or not it is good to hear the issues you face in the supervision of all these languages and projects. It makes us feel like we are "in the know."\Lastly, how fun to watch you test the options for communicating with our group. Spanish Completion Team group. I like that you adjusted our goal.\On Thu, Mar 7, 2019 at 4:31 PM Howard Cheney <CheneyHW@churchofjesuschrist.org> wrote:\Vern are you already at the FHC?\I was delayed and am\On my way now!\Sent from my iPhone\


vern jensen\2:20 PM (0 minutes ago)\to Howard\Thank you, that means a lot.

march 17, 2019 Good morning Brandon, I am surprised I have not printed this off and sent it to you yet! Last Sunday our Bishop was asked to speak in anticipation of Ward Conference which is today. YOU may remember his Stake Conference talk about the sacrament that floored me and that I sent to you. I had never heard anything like it. To have Sacrament meeting be like a funeral for Jesus and his body to be under the white alter right there on the stand for all of us to take of was a mind blowing concept. @ Bishop Beau Barney speaks humbly but courageously. And some of his concepts cut right to the core. I asked him for a copy of his talk. This is the email I wrote him asking/ requesting:I tried but I couldn't keep up. (notes in my journal)Sun, Mar 10, 3:23 PM (7 days ago)

to beau\Dear Bishop Barney,\Thank you for teasing your wife so mercilessly before she spoke. You are human after all! :) She said she is used to it.\

I carefully looked up :

 26 And we atalk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we bprophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our cchildren may know to what source they may look for a dremission of their sins. \

1- talk of Christ

2- rejoice in Christ

3- preach of Christ

4- prophecy of Christ

5- write of Christ\

How many of those do I do?\By the time you included that at the end of your talk we were all waiting for an answer to our problems, all the problems you had reminded us of.  WE WANTED THE ANSWER!\And it is an answer we can do/ actuate / follow/ perform. It is not an impossible answer. We just have to make room in our lives to do it.\You already know why I am writing this letter. I want a copy of your talk if at all possible. _____\Yep you have to fill in the blank.\\B. Q. Adams contributed 3 or 4 times in EQ today. I went to briefly visit with him afterwards. He loved Sister Jen Barney's talk. I told Sister Jen that she was phenomenal and that I deeply appreciated her sharing personal efforts to be intentional parents like:

1-reading the BoM as a family last Oct -Jan.

2-sharing how daughters/son call asking to be picked up when a PG-13 is being shown at a friend's house.\You know the law of witnesses:  Law of witnesses: in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established, D&C 6:28 (Deut. 17:6; Matt. 18:16; 2 Cor. 13:1; Ether 5:4; D&C 128:3).  \I tried to confirm/ compliment/ reassure BQAdams by asking him how he felt as he heard you explain about the dangers of smart phones. He said, "We have had many talks about this over the years." Then I tried to send it home by saying: "I thought I was listening to Bishop Adams up there today."\Dear Bishop, Thank you for your tremendous courage. Not very many will take it to heart. But they will remember each time they think about that rattlesnake. \Admiringly & Respectfully,\Vern\PS. I gave the CD of "Mothers that Know" and a personal letter to a daughter in law last year, hoping. . . \I haven't heard back yet Just waiting for the right opportunity to follow up. We'll see.\

beau.barney@gmail.com\Sun, Mar 10, 4:04 PM (7 days ago)\to me\

You are very kind Vern! I will send you a copy a little later this evening.\

Ward Conference Theme (2 Nephi 25:26)

Snake Story: A little boy was walking down a path and he came across a rattlesnake. The rattlesnake was getting old. He asked, "Please little boy, can you take me to the top of the mountain? I hope to see the sunset one last time before I die." The little boy answered "No Mr. Rattlesnake. If I pick you up, you'll bite me and I'll die." The rattlesnake said, "No, I promise. I won't bite you. Just please take me up to the mountain." The little boy thought about it and finally picked up that rattlesnake and took it close to his chest and carried it up to the top of the mountain.

They sat there and watched the sunset together. It was so beautiful. Then after sunset the rattlesnake turned to the little boy and asked, "Can I go home now? I am tired, and I am old." The little boy picked up the rattlesnake and again took it to his chest and held it tightly and safely. He came all the way down the mountain holding the snake carefully and took it to his home to give him some food and a place to sleep. The next day the rattlesnake turned to the boy and asked, "Please little boy, will you take me back to my home now? It is time for me to leave this world, and I would like to be at my home now." The little boy felt he had been safe all this time and the snake had kept his word, so he would take it home as asked.

He carefully picked up the snake, took it close to his chest, and carried him back to the woods, to his home to die. Just before he laid the rattlesnake down, the rattlesnake turned and bit him in the chest. The little boy cried out and threw the snake upon the ground. "Mr. Snake, why did you do that? Now I will surely die!" The rattlesnake looked up at him and grinned, "You knew what I was when you picked me up." [v- I hate that story! You are supposed to teach little kids kindness!]

Sister Joy Jones: (Primary General President of the Church) recently said: In today’s world, I see many parents handing their child a snake. I am speaking of smartphones. Even in impoverished countries, I have witnessed children using smartphones. The trend seems to be the same wherever I go, whether in Utah, Europe, Asia, or West Africa. I recently spoke with a youth leader whose opinion was that “putting a cell phone with an internet connection into the pocket of a young person is like placing a hot coal in their pocket—they will get burned.” [#2 stabbingly true concept]

We cannot put cell phones with internet access into the hands of young children who aren’t old enough to have been sufficiently taught, do not yet have necessary reasoning and decision-making abilities, and who don’t have parental controls and other tools to help protect them. Every phone should have safeguards... This is also good counsel for adults. No one is immune to the bite of a poisonous snake.

• So, brothers and sisters, in what ways can our smartphones be considered poisonous or deadly today? Let me just mention a few:

1. Pornography 2. Social Media 3. A constant flow of unworthy music 4. Mind-numbing or violent video games 5. Binge watching Netflix or YouTube videos

All of which are highly addictive and have been linked to much of the increase in anxiety, depression, and suicide we are seeing today. [What? This seems way over the top.-v]

For example: pornography is so addictive and so destructive to society that the General Manager of the KC Royal’s baseball team (Dayton Moore) actively addresses the issue with his players and publicly fights against it. He says: “When we continue to look the other way, it’s not going to get better. What you permit, you promote, what you fail to confront, you condone.” [I tried to write this one down but it was gone after the first effort.-v Moore wants us to take a stand and not allow certain things in our presence. Does that mean our Bishop wants us to do that too? I suspect so. What you permit, you promote, what you fail to confront, you condone.” ]

As for social media: (Colin Kartchner/Social Media Activist) has shared the following: Social media's negative effects on youth mental health and too much screen-time is the underlying link to the current epidemic rise in teen depression and anxiety, eating disorders, self-harming, suicide ideation and suicide itself. We must teach our kids that their worth does not come from likes, followers, or Snapchat streaks. [Jargon that I don’t use.-v] And yet this issue is not just with youth. He continues: Smart phones and social media are the new drug of choice in homes. They hooked parents, disconnected them from their kids, distracted us from who is truly important, and taught us that "likes" = self worth--and now our kids are modeling us. Kids need our eyes and our love and validation more than ever before. Showing your kids you love them is 2% effort and 98% just putting down your phone. (Colin Kartchner-Local Social Media Activist) [v-those numbers made me stop and think. I personally don’t believe that one.]

(In a recent address to Seminary and Institute teachers, Elder Rasband explained what’s going on with our youth in the Church: He taught:

Fear and despair: that’s what is going on. Fear of not being accepted by friends. Fear of academic performance1, pressures, and problems at home2 they can’t solve. Fear that they can trust no one3 and no one trusts them4. Fear of being alone5, and fear of being in groups6. Fear that they are a burden to others7. Fear of organized religion or any religion8. Fear that there is no solution or relief to their pain9. Fear prompts discouragement and despair, anxiety and depression; fear fuels frustrations that have no good conclusion. [v-Fear also fuels frustration and anger that can be focussed to effectuate helpful resolutions and conclusions. I know, I practice it regularly. Fear God and live! 13 ¶ Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.] Fear believes that no one will understand and, worse yet, that no one even asks, “What’s the matter?” Fear in its many forms is manifest unfortunately in the cruelest of conclusions—suicide. [v-Yikes, our bishop dared to mention suicide? #3]

When Utah’s governor set up a task force last year to tackle the surge in teen suicides, he asked President Nelson to appoint a Church leader to that service. President Nelson assigned me the daunting responsibility. I have learned no one is immune. Teen suicide is a crisis reaching all around the world. Statistics show that suicide is now among the three leading causes of death among youth ages 15 to 24. And this: “Suicide attempts are 20 times more frequent than completed suicides.” Those, my dear brothers and sisters, are cruel statistics.

We must all face this issue. As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we must commit to do everything we can to reshape the thinking that suicide is an answer, a response even worth considering. We must talk to teens about suicide and love them out of considering it as a solution to their pain. President Monson’s life embodied the phrase “to the rescue.” We need to take that as our charge.

Brothers and Sisters, let me tell you what else is happening to our society and especially our youth. They are becoming desensitized. [v- i have experienced this! In fact it is hard to remain feeling and sensitized.] The term used to describe this in the scriptures is past feeling. Many of them are not feeling things. Many are losing a sense of sacred things. Many are almost like Zombies simply going through the motions of life in a virtual way at best.  [#4 another potent word: Zombies-v]

This is one of Satan’s great tricks. He is cheating many souls out of having a mortal experience at all because he can’t have one. He is tempting us to become so involved in technology and media today that at best we have a virtual life and no real physical experience at all. [I watched a youtube video this week of a guy who put on his virtual goggles for a week! After he removed them he loved the fresh air and outside smells of nature. Nothing can replace those. (and there you are Brandon stuck in prison. Do they ever let you out to feel the wind, rain, smell the spring air or watch the clouds in the sky?)-v]

Elder D. Todd Christofferson has explained it this way: The importance of having a sense of the sacred is simply this—if one does not appreciate holy things, he will lose them. Absent a feeling of reverence, he will grow increasingly casual in attitude and lax in conduct. He will drift from the moorings that his covenants with God could provide. His feeling of accountability to God will diminish and then be forgotten. Thereafter, he will care only about his own comfort and satisfying his uncontrolled appetites. Finally, he will come to despise sacred things, even God, and then he will despise himself. (“A Sense of the Sacred,” BYU Devotional, November 7, 2004) [v- the still small voice.]

If we are paying attention brothers and sisters, this is precisely what we are seeing today. Everything God initiates, Satan imitates. His imitation of Sacred things are secret things. His tactic is for us to keep things secret and hidden without anyone knowing. Many youth today are trying to hide so much that eventually it overcomes them, they don’t know how to fully cope with or to fully communicate about these secret things. [v- #5 anti secret. I agree.]

Brothers and Sisters, if you are not aware of all that is happening on your children’s phones, devices, or computers then, let me be bold enough to say to you that you have no idea what is going on in your child’s life and there may be many secrets you are unaware of. Many youth today live on their phones. (Unfortunately, many adults and spouses do too)

Truly brothers and sisters, we do have a deadly snake problem among us as modern-day Israel. Yet, so did ancient Israel. In fact, the scriptures teach us that there were many fiery serpents among them, they bit the people, and much of the people of Israel died.

What could they do to solve their snake problem? After they had been bitten, the Lord prepared a way that they might be healed. It was simple: All they had to do was to look; (If they would simply cast their eyes upon the brazen serpent which Moses did raise up on a pole before them, they would live. But, because of the simpleness of the way, or the easiness of it, there were many who perished. (1 Nephi 17:41)

Symbolically, the brazen serpent on the pole represented Jesus Christ who in the meridian of time would Atone for all sin, be raised upon the cross and crucified that we might be healed physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally, and in every other way possible.

Brothers and Sisters, for us the answer is just as simple today. And yet because it’s so simple, many around us today are dying physically and spiritually because many are too unwilling1, too distracted2, too selfish3, too worldly4, too concerned about being popular5, or just simply too lazy6 to look to Christ and live and teach their children to do the same. [#6 powerful labels-v]

Brothers and Sisters, this type of effort on our part will simply not be good enough. We cannot afford any more physical or spiritual casualties, especially among us. Yet, brothers and sisters, I can testify that if we don’t change anything in our own lives and if we don’t choose today to be “Intentional Parents” like President Nelson and my dear, sweet wife Jen has just taught us, the problem won’t get better, it will in reality get much, much worse.

So, where do we start?

Well, first it would be best to avoid the poisonous serpents in the first place. In the words of, President Ezra Taft Benson: “it is better to prepare and prevent than it is to repair and repent.” [#7 this one gives me a big, BIG smile.-v]

(“The Law of Chastity,” New Era, Jan. 1988, 6)

So, what preventative measures can we take? Dan Coats: (Senator of Indiana) explained: There is something very wrong when children are treated as obstacles to parental self-fulfillment... It creates young people who later find themselves unable to form their own families. [OUCH! Should we take that one personal?-v] And this self-centered destruction of the family is not only an individual tragedy, it is a national crisis. [It is so nice to know that even a guy in Indiana is noticing!-v] (“America’s Youth: A Crisis of Character”) Sister Julie Beck (General RS President) speaking of “Mothers Who Know” explained: They allow less media in their homes, less distraction, less activity that draws their children away from their home. Mothers who know are willing to live on less and consume less of the world’s goods in order to spend more time with their children—more time eating together, more time working together, more time reading together, more time talking, laughing, singing, and exemplifying. These mothers choose carefully and do not try to choose it all. Their goal is to prepare a rising generation of children who will take the gospel of Jesus Christ into the entire world. [I absolutely love it!-v This is the letter and CD I gave to Bonnie in ‘17. This one is personal to me.]

Their goal is to prepare future fathers and mothers who will be builders of the Lord’s kingdom for the next 50 years. That is influence; that is power. (“Mothers Who Know,” October 2007) Sister Joy D. Jones: Primary GP (Provides 5 very specific and practical ways we can do this in the home.) She says:

1. Some parents opt for flip phones for their children to limit usage to calling and texting. 2. I know families who have designated a single, high-traffic area in their home where electronic devices are used. These families call it a “media room,” and all their devices are kept in open view, in the light. Never is any one person alone in the/their-v room on a media device. 3. Other families have opted for rules like no phones in bedrooms or bathrooms. 4. Some simply say “never alone with a phone.” [v- those are 5 nice powerful simple words but impossible to to keep/ adhere to.] 5. Still others gradually add access to apps their children can use with software that allows the child’s phone to be configured by the parent. This way they teach that trust is earned and that phone safety is important. Whatever the needs are for our individual families, let’s teach each family member to use technology wisely and positively from the start—to develop a moral mindset. She warns: “You wouldn’t take your children and leave them alone in the middle of NYC, but that’s effectively what you’re doing when you allow them to go into cyberspace alone.”[1] Jason S. Carroll, a professor of family life at BYU, stated, “We safeguard our children until the time they can safeguard themselves.” The brain stem, which houses the pleasure centers of the brain, develops first. Only later do the reasoning and decision-making abilities in the frontal cortex fully develop. “So kids have the gas pedal without the full brake.”[2] [#8 stabbingly true concept.-v]

In reality, it was the Nephite parents that had the ultimate solution: (And this is the scriptural theme for next week’s ward conference) They declared: 2 Nephi 25:26 26 And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.

Elder Rasband: Added: Jesus is the Answer. Dear President Nelson has said, “When the focus of our lives is on God’s plan of salvation ... and Jesus Christ and His gospel, we can feel joy regardless of what is happening—or not happening—in our lives.”

This is illustrated well in the biblical episode of Peter walking on water: Matthew 14:28-32 (We read:) 28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. 29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. 31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? 32 And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.

When Peter’s focus was on Christ, miracles occured in his life. When he focused on the world around him, he sunk into fear and deep despair. So, it is with each of us. [#9 stabbingly true concept. Stabbed right to the heart.-v]

So, brothers and sisters, how can we look to and focus on Christ and avoid the many worldly distractions around us today? I would invite each of us to look to and focus on Christ in the following 3 ways:

1. Teach the Gospel in your home and make it a priority 2. Communicate openly and often with your children in a spirit of love 3. Focus on Christ through sacred ordinances and the temple

1. Teach the Gospel in the home: (How can we best do this?) Follow the prophet by studying the Come Follow Me curriculum as a family and hold regular FHE Teach your children to live the standards found in the FSOY pamphlet Teach and encourage your children to study the scriptures personally for themselves. Encourage enrollment in Seminary & Institute courses.

2. Communicate openly in a spirit of love Take more time for your kids. Time to just talk to them and to listen to them, open up a line of communication Don’t be too busy with other things that don’t really matter Don’t selfishly put your own hobbies and interests above your kids.

3. Ordinances and the Temple: Do indexing, Family History, and be worthy to attend the temple as a family. Come prepared to partake of the sacrament worthily each week and focus on the Savior instead of distracting devices. Make the temple and your covenants your top priority.

Brothers and Sisters, as we look to Christ and focus on Him in these ways, we will come to realize what Sister Dew realized when she said:

Sister Sheri Dew: (The Savior isn’t our last chance; He is our only chance. [#9 again!-v] Our only chance to overcome self-doubt and catch a vision of who we may become. Our only chance to repent and have our sins washed clean. Our only chance to purify our hearts, subdue our weaknesses, and avoid the adversary. Our only chance to obtain redemption and exaltation. Our only chance to find peace and happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come. (April 1999) [b e a u t i f u l - v ]

We will also come to realize what the exemplary intentional parent Helaman taught his two son’s Nephi and Lehi when he said:

Helaman 5:12 12 And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

Brothers and Sisters, may you and I more than ever before, look to Christ and live both physically and spiritually! Let us be of good cheer and find joy in the journey despite our circumstances. As we do our part and really try, the grace of Christ will save us from our fears and our sins. May we have the courage to do what it takes to have no secrets.

If you have been bitten by this poisonous serpent in any way, I plead with you to come see me and let me help you get the poisonous venom out of your soul before it becomes fatal. [v-As only a bishop can invite!]

My dear brothers and Sisters come unto Christ and be healed. He is the light, He is the Rock. If we will focus on Him, we will be of good cheer and through Him we will overcome the world. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. @@@ Can you see why I wanted a copy of that talk? Holy Cow!  . . . . .

His wife, Jen, spoke before he did. If you want a copy, I have one. Intentional Parenting. BBB said that: A new bishop is chosen by the most righteous wife in the ward. Sunnie Adams gave us Bishop Q. Adams. Jen Barney gives us Bishop B. Barney. Cute huh!  Yes we give lip service in the church. I wonder if the women have come to expect it? Or if they truly believe it? I haven’t been able to figure this one out yet.