We did put all our seeds into the earth

. . . we did put all our seeds into the earth . . .

First Nephi. Chapter 18. Verse 24.

On the day that darkest in your life, just plant a seed.

Plant it with the hope and faith that it will meet a need.

A need that may not be relieved for longer than you think.

Your thoughtful act may save someone from slipping on the brink.

Plant all the seeds you’re given in this life and give no heed

To doubts or grief if one of them should turn into a weed.

Just plant with good intentions and a willing hand to find

Contentment in your sowing and a candid peace of mind.

And when your planting’s over, the abundance it creates

Will be a green wave pushing you to Heaven’s milky gates.

When I am planted in the earth, I hope my seed bag shows

No hoarding, but a scattering of all through joys and woes.

And they fell down before me

And they fell down before me, and were about

to worship me, but I would not suffer them . . .

First Nephi. Chapter Seventeen. Verse 55.

Pride will come to visit you, while bringing vanity;

The two of them will swindle you out of serenity.

For pride must huff and puff forever more to keep in shape;

And vanity will make you seek for compliments agape.

The desire to be worshipped, to be thought above the crowd,

Keeps the ears unhearing and the head from being bowed.

Remember that no flattery is ever heaven sent.

It’s made in lurking darkness with a queasy sulfur scent.

Like Nephi I abhor obeisance from my fellow man.

I’d rather be of service to all others, if I can.

The Father of our spirits will not be impressed by me;

I only hope He lets me live with Him eternally.

Letter from my missionary daughter in California.

Hello Everyone!

I'm sure some of you must be getting tired of me saying how much I love being a missionary, but I will un-apologetically say it again: I LOVE being a Missionary!!!

It's been so much more than I ever imagined it to be. Some days are hard when I feel like nothing I do makes a difference, but the payoff is when we find more people to teach about Jesus Christ and his restored gospel, and then see how it changes their lives always for the better. It's a gift to watch someone you care about, come to love and know the Savior. 

Every first Sunday of the month we have what we call a Temple Music Devotional where missionaries from the mission and members put on musical performances at the church building near the Newport Temple, and then they invite people to walk around the temple grounds afterwards. Yesterday was a special one though, as it was Easter Sunday. There was a woman named Katie Luther who was a Broadway singer, that came to sing and tell her story of how she found hope and comfort through Jesus Christ. She also came with her husband ( who has a bomb voice) and her son. It was very powerful, and her story was so touching. What I got most out of it was this: Miracles always always come, but only AFTER the struggle. And only according to our faith. This woman had suffered abuse as a child and hadn't ever dealt with it, until her mid-twenties. She found that her only option for personal and lasting peace and happiness was through the Savior Jesus Christ. It's because He literally suffered for each one of us, so He knows where we've been. It took this woman a while to really come to trust that the Savior could make her whole again, but with a lot of work she did. There are days where it's still a fight, but she takes great comfort in the fact that her Savior walks with her each day. She allowed Him to take away her pain, and shame, and anger. What a testimony! I feel that what she said is true. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is real and it's powerful, and it's for you, and me and everyone. There's no way I could be a missionary if I didn't 100% totally believe that. I couldn't be a missionary if I didn't know that this church is the true church of Jesus Christ; it is His church established on the earth today. He is at the head and leads and guides us through a chosen living prophet of God. How miraculous is it to have someone on Earth who can warn us of spiritual dangers and tell us more of what our Heavenly Father wants us to know. 

We just had General conference, which is where the leaders of our church like the Apostles and Prophet speak to us over satellite broadcast from Salt Lake City to the whole world, and encourage, inspire and uplift us with their words. I look forward to it every year, twice a year :) There were so many powerful and inspiring talks, and I definitely had some questions answered. Something I that really jumped out to me was when Lynn G. Robbins talked about success and failure. He said: Success is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm! Then he goes on to explain that God lets us fail more than a few times because He wants us to 

1. Learn that everything will be for our good and benefit in the end

2. Know the bitter from the sweet in life

3. learn to trust that God knows better than we do, every time

At the end he says that repentance (the process of changing your heart, turning away from sin and turning to God) is not a back up plan; it IS the plan! When God sent us here He knew we would fail sometimes, but He also knew that we would learn to become like Him in the process and would help us as much as we asked for it. There's no limit on repentance, and the benevolence of god has no bounds either. He always welcomes us back with open arms, ready to receive us. He wants each one of us to return to Him, and He has made a way possible through Jesus Christ. 

There were so many more good things that I learned from Conference, so I encourage each of you to watch all the sessions if you haven't had the chance to already. We are so blessed to be able to know that we have a living prophet and apostles and other church leaders who help us know the will of the Lord for us and what we need to be reminded to do in our individual lives. I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is true, no doubt whatsoever. We invite all to come join with us, and add to the faith that they already have. Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the world. God is our loving Father who joys in our successes and weeps with us when we sorrow. Miracles happen only after the trial of our faith :) So hang in there, your miracle is coming! 

I love you all so much, I am sustained by your love and support each time I hear from you. Have an absolutely wonderful week! He lives and love you!

Love, 

Sister Torkildson

From the Wall Street Journal. Monday April 2 2018

The Trump administration’s commitment to coal

is under its stiffest test yet after an Ohio energy

company made a plea to favor that power source

over its many rivals, including oil and natural gas,

in a clash that could end with higher costs for consumers.

When coal is the love of your life,

There’s bound to be somewhat of strife.

If you make a pass

at oil or at gas

You might find your back holds a knife!

Reporter Bruna Dealtry was left stunned

after she was kissed live on-air by a shirtless

man at a soccer match at the Sao Januario

stadium in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday.

From Kicker Daily News

A soccer fan kissed a reporter

During a lively first quarter.

Such lack of decorum

Would lead any quorum

To snap his athletic supporter.

. . .  a growing body of research over the past decade

shows that a healthy diet—high in fruits, vegetables,

whole grains, fish and unprocessed lean red meat—

can prevent depression. And an unhealthy diet—

high in processed and refined foods—increases the risk

for the disease in everyone, including children and teens.

So ‘comfort food’ is but a myth?

I’m sorry, but I must insith

That burgers and fries

Make my spirits rise --

Besides, they’re so hard to resith!

And, on the subject of push alerts:

I always get a push alert when in my Subaru;

But there’s no autopilot so I don’t know what to do.

I’d like to give the story the attention it deserves,

Without a near collision when I’m going round the curves.

But when I’m in a meeting at the office that’s a bore,

A push alert keeps me awake so that I never snore.

The boss is getting wise to these divertissements, alas,

And has installed a tabletop that’s made of see-through glass.

I never seem to get a push alert at Starbucks, where

I have a lot of caffeine and long hours I can spare.

Instead they act as sort of an unpleasant morning goad

While I’m busy thinking on my porcelein commode.

Thou speakest hard things against us

Thou speakest hard things against us.

First Nephi. Chapter Sixteen. Verse 3.

I do not like hard words when spoke by anyone but me.

They are cruel and unrefined and silly as can be.

But if I’m moved to speak them, they are kindly meant, you know --

To guide the wayward soul so ev’ry line they now will tow.

So if I yell and scream at you, tis only for your good.

But if I’m yelled at it must mean I am misunderstood!

white and blue expand

white and blue expand

to limitless new prospects 

far from numb winter

Easter Song

The mortal press is unrelenting;

Causing birth to be repenting.

And the universal sigh

Is to toil and then to die.

Futile is this cycle ending

In resigned and sad pretending;

Still, we struggle for a sight

That predicts the end of night.

But a single dawn decreed

Long ago that my great need

Has been answered by the Son,

And redemption has begun.

This prison of mortality

Is broke, and I have been set free.

Oh, shall I not exalt and sing

The Christ, my only loving King?  

From the Wall Street Journal. Saturday March 31 2018

Palisades Collection was in the business of purchasing debts from

creditors at pennies on the dollar with the hope of fully collecting

on the debt, according to the lawsuit. That is a common practice

in the debt-collection industry, and collection agencies

regularly use court systems to try to collect debts.

For pennies on the dollar they will make your life a hell;

They’ll drag your name right through the mud and sue your butt as well.

The debt collection agency has scruples so minute

You could fit ‘em all inside a bacilluses’ snoot.

Why don’t we sic these monsters on ol’ Putin or Jinping,

So they can vex our enemies in Moscow and Beijing?

CERTAIN WINES have reputations tarnished by the

connotation of “cheap.” They’re usually the

lowest-priced offerings on a restaurant wine list

and shelved near the floor in a wine store. Often

described by unpromising adjectives like “affordable,”

“drinkable” or simply “fun,” they include wines such as

Beaujolais, Chianti, Pinot Grigio,

Chilean Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadet.

I never drink wine that is cheap;

Good wine has a price that is steep.

I pay it because

Next morning the fuzz

Inside of my head ain’t so deep.

On Thursday and again on Saturday, Mr. Trump

on Twitter blasted Amazon over its business practices

and economic impact, saying the company should pay

more in taxes and is “putting many thousands of retailers

out of business.”

I think Mr. Trump is so mean

To Amazon cuz he has seen

How they deliver

Without a quiver --

While his pledges aren’t worth a bean.

New Yorkers flush the toilet millions of times a day,

creating 1,200 tons of biosolids, or treated sewage sludge.

Privately owned Big Sky Landfill in Adamsville, Ala.,

has permits to take nearly all of that from New York’s

five boroughs.

The Big Apple has more BS

Than anyone else, so I guess.

It’s shipped to Dixie,

Which might be tricksy

When it’s used to grow watercress.

While the U.S. doesn’t legally restrict women from

occupations, it scores particularly low on the leave

policies. The U.S. is one of just seven nations that don’t

require at least 14 weeks of paid leave. The others are

Suriname, Papua New Guinea, Micronesia, the Marshall Islands,

Palau and Tonga. Overall, the U.S. ranks 121st out

of 189 economies on this dimension.

In Tonga new mothers must toil,

Burning the hard midnight oil;

Before we critique

We might as well speak

Of how it’s the same on OUR soil.

the bright rising sky

the bright rising sky

brushes her lips against me

wanton yet loyal

hope is the yellow

hope is the yellow

floating above the green stems

near the lonely tomb