Public Thought Log

<Story about Amy and my honesty about her food> I take public transportation to work. One morning, less than a year ago I lost my wallet and I was pretty certain I had lost it while riding the bus. I was a bit sad, because that meant that I had to spend a few hours that morning cancelling credit cards, getting a new driver's licence, a new badge for work, etc. A few days later, I was able to reach the transit authority in Bellevue, and they told me that my wallet had been returned. I was so glad for the person that returned my wallet. I was very glad for their honesty. I had some cash in my wallet and some gift cards that they could have easily used -- but they did not. They simply returned the wallet with all of its content. I would like to talk today about honesty. The last article of Faith, which was written by Joseph Smith to describe who the Latter Day Saints were says: We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to al...

I have added this talk after a hymn widely known in our church. It is written for men voices, but in reality the principles of the talk I am about to share with you apply to both men and women just the same.  The hymn starts with the sentence "Rise up, O men of God! Have done with lesser things. Give heart and soul and mind and strength To serve the King of Kings. " I really enjoyed the topic I was assigned this month. It is based on Elder Uchtdorf's talk called "You can do it!". I have pasted the video of his presentation below for those reading this talk online. The talk was given for the Priesthood Session of General Conference in October 2013. When I was a kid, I had a physics teacher that was teaching us Newtonian mechanics, including the concept of Gravity. One thing he mentioned that I remember is that the process of walking is the process of continuously falling, and correcting our position. I am going to talk a little about falling today...

I was assigned to talk on "Personal strength through the atonement of Jesus Christ" -- How can Christ, and the process of repentance can help us grow and stay away from sin. To be honest, I consider this to be a very tough topic to talk about. The main reason is that I feel like staying out of trouble is for me a constant struggle. There are many times when I feel like Paul who said:   24  O a wretched  man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?( Romans 7:24 ) or Nephi: 17  Nevertheless, notwithstanding the great a goodness of the Lord, in showing me his great and marvelous works, my heart exclaimeth: O b wretched man that I am! Yea, my heart c sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities.    ( 2 Nephi 4:17 ) So I am deeply humbled in coming to you and sharing this topic. I had a chance to read the talk by Elder Scott: Personal strength through the atonement of Jesus Christ  which is...

(Talk to be given in the Kenmore Ward, 1/19/2014) Brother and sisters, I bring to you the love of the Stake Presidency. This year the Lord is hastening his work, and we need to roll up our sleeves and get to work.   We are promised a lot of blessings, because a lot is required of us. We are asked to set the expectations we have on ourselves, our families and in our units much higher. The Lord is asking us to do a lot, so He will qualify us to do a lot. I came to the United States to study Computer Science and Mathematics. My first job at BYU was a little strange; I was a math tutor for the Athletics department. I realized that kids that played for the BYU athletics teams got private tutoring; and while that seemed a little strange to me at the time – I was happy to get a job on campus. I had a chance spend hours with some of the team members of the BYU basketball and football teams. I did not follow sports much, but one day I got a new guy assigned to me. He was a well-know...