DevanJensen

"Showing up is 80 percent of life." Woody Allen uttered these words, and there is much wisdom behind them.  I'm not the smartest person, but I was able to earn good grades during school because I read a lot as a child and I consistently "showed up"--doing my homework well, even finding joy in learning. I was able to earn a respectable GPA in college because I kept showing up. I've been blessed to find good employment because I kept showing up. So that's my little thought for today: when you're tempted to sleep in or put off that important assignment, just keep showing up--that's 80 percent of the battle!

Yesterday we discussed an important scripture in Ether 12:23-28. Here are some thoughts on these verses. Moroni was recording his feelings on the plates but was worried that future readers (the Gentiles) would mock at his “weakness in writing” (v. 23). When he wrote his words, he noticed his weakness at placing the words, and he stressed himself out thinking how others would judge him! This smacks of insecurity in the face of peer pressure. Ironically, most of that pressure was coming from an imagined audience not even born yet! The Lord reassured him that, although fools would mock at him, “ my grace is sufficient for the meek” (v. 26). Then the Lord comforted Him with this strange thought: “If men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness ” (v. 27). Normally, we don’t want to see our shortcomings, but the Lord clarified to Moroni that He gave us such shortcomings so we might realize the need for help and, in our hour of need, draw closer to Him. The Lord affirmed a sec...

Figure  1 . Philo Dibble, who is buried in the Springville, Utah, Cemetery. Philo Dibble showed faith and courage throughout his life. He was an early convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (nicknamed the Mormons) and a close friend to the Prophet Joseph Smith who recorded several miracles and important events in Church history in Ohio, Missouri, Illinois, and Utah. He was born in Peru, Massachusetts, on June 6, 1806. Marrying Celia Kent in 1829, the couple moved to the Kirtland, Ohio, area (three miles west of Chardon).  One fall morning in 1830,  while the twenty-four-year-old Philo stood by his gate, two neighbors asked if he had heard the news about four missionaries with a new book called the Book of Mormon. One of those missionaries claimed to have seen an angel. Though the men ridiculed the idea of angels visiting the earth, Philo thought that if an angel had appeared, he wanted to know about it. He and Celia went to investigate. ...

Sometimes when our family members act unlovable, those are the times they need our love the most. Here I'm focusing on our relationship with teenagers when they sometimes act unlovable. When I say "act unlovable," I mean their outward behavior is sometimes an act--like good old high school drama. While inside, a teen may be desiring to belong to a family, sometime their outward behavior screams "I hate you!" In other words, while teens are forming their own values, separate from their parents' worldview, they can say things (intentionally or otherwise) that rile up parents' emotions, a kind of "I-dare-you-to-stay-calm-after-I-say-this" attitude. Why do they do this? Often while they are developing their own worldview, they experiment by bouncing controversial statements off a parent. Those are the times when we, as parents, can choose patience in order to prevent permanently damaging the relationship. One way to not blow a gasket is t...

R. Devan Jensen America is a land of immigrants. People traveled here for a variety of reasons, including discontent with meager circumstances in their former homeland. Many came for religious reasons, including converts to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (nicknamed Mormons because of their acceptance of the Book of Mormon as scripture comparable to the Bible). Between 1850 and 1905, Scandinavia produced 22,653 Mormon converts who immigrated to America. Fifty-six percent were Danes, 32 percent Swedes, and 11 percent Norwegians. [i]   This paper is a microhistory of the original settling of Preston, Idaho, by European immigrants, including Norwegian immigrants David Jensen (1835–1909), Bertha Sørine  Simensdatter ( anglicized as Serena or Serina Petersen,  1841–84), and Julia Konstance Simensdatter (anglicized as Petersen, 1851–1920). Preston was founded in northern Cache Valley, a semiarid valley straddling southeastern Idaho and northern Ut...