"I have decided to keep a journal because I believe that my life is important not only to myself but also to others. Perhaps I can stimulate others in my family to do likewise so that the family may be strengthened through deeper communication. Only that material which keynote the central themes of my life and its experiences will be recorded. Certainly it will not always be serious because I enjoy a sense of humor and do not take myself serious enough to think that everything that happens to me is earth-shattering. In fact, I enjoy a good laugh with others when my antics and habits are in review. It would be more than I could ever hope for, if my wonderful and choice family – those now living and those yet to embrace life here upon this earth – would read my thoughts and come to understand me as I desire to understand them. Then a love would develop in all our hearts for our God; for one another; for life; and for the quest for eternal life together. And so whenever a record is being made I pray that the Spirit might be with me that it will be felt by those who read these words in the spirit of truth. Only the decisions that pertain to our relationships with our Father in Heaven and the Savior are important. All other decisions will be of little consequence."

Thursday, January 24, 1974

Jan 24, 1974



Tonight Norma and I are in Honolulu. We had planned a snow skiing trip with the family but it did not work out because of the “energy crisis” and the kids could not get out of school. Therefore, spontaneously, we decided to come to Hawaii. The children supported us in this.
Norma has given of herself to the family and particularly so during the holidays and I am pleased that we could be alone together for a little time. We have done nothing but read, study, swim in the surf, walk, and eat – so much so that we cut our stay on Maui short because we were getting “antsy”.
I have re-read and studied most of the D & C and cross-referenced it with the other standard works.
Today we saw the USS Arizona memorial where over 1000 men went down with the battleship when it was bombed by the Japanese on Dec. 7, 1941. I thought how most of the people in the world are pawns or marionettes in the hands of a few powerful wicked men of the world and how we have been influenced by war during most of my life. Truly, a feeling of emptiness and useless wasting of young life was felt as we stood over the sunk battleship which still holds the bodies of the dead. I have decided to call my right fifth finger a “memory finger”. As a tradition I have been and will continue to look for rings to remind me of pleasant travels and memories in my life. I now have rings from Mexico, Egypt, Jerusalem, and Honolulu.

No comments:

Post a Comment