When I was a young child, I had an interesting experience I would like to share that I hope will encourage you. I really didn’t know the Lord like I do now and like all 5-year-olds, was easily influenced by events in my daily life. 

I was a kindergartener and lived a short two block walk from the grade school I attended. I enjoyed kindergarten school, my teacher and of course all the students in my class. What my teacher taught me back then helped my ability to learn and find something new each day for the rest of my life

My children have a wonderful way of teaching me important life lessons, as a parent. In fact, I often feel that they are teaching me as much or more about growing up than I am teaching them. They've pointed out that I need to show more compassion and empathy, that I often fail to communicate and explain things clearly, or that I need to give them undivided attention and that just being near them doesn't count. None of these things have come in the way of a lecture from my 5 or 4 year old, but rather in the simple things they say.

King Solomon's call for moral and spiritual integrity by citizens for the benefit of their nation may seem out of date, but his principle of practicing patriotism by doing right needs to be stressed and heeded: "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people" (Proverbs 14:34).

The history of both the United States and Canada prove the importance of spiritual awakenings to turn the tide of moral and spiritual decay and usher in good times.

It has been my privilege to be a member of some amazing, generous, hard-working missions teams the past two summers. We have traveled to two different off-the-road destinations in Alaska, most often referred to as "the Bush." It is a very expensive and pre-planning intensive endeavor to "go." Fortunately, M.A.R.C.