We visited FamilySearch Library, which is a great place to research family history, and recorded this souvenir video.

I'm celebrating Independence Day weekend by re-reading the U. S. Declaration of Independence, among other things, and I invite you all to join me, whether by watching this video or by doing it on your own. Please consider rendering this an annual Independence Day tradition. Hurrah for rightful liberty, three cheers for the U. S. Constitution, and long live the republic! May God help us all.

I'm celebrating Independence Day weekend by re-reading Doctrine & Covenants section 134, among other things, and I invite my fellow Latter-day Saints to join me, whether by watching this video or by doing it on your own.

America's federal government is currently engaged in legalized plunder, whether via taxes or via debt-and-inflation, on an unprecedented scale. The recent CARES Act of 2020 spent more than the entire New Deal, as well as America's entire annual federal budget.

Congress is directing most of this vast flood of money toward politically-favored state agencies and/or big businesses, with a pittance being given to individual households. As for myself, I don't believe in stealing, even if it's legal, and I value a clean conscience more than ill-gotten gain. I'd much rather obtain such funds in the right way, whether by earning it or by receiving it as a gift.

Like the fictional Murder on the Orient Express, killing a nation from within is the work of many hands. I don't want my hands to be among them. So, to help set a good example, I put this check where I believe that it belongs. You're welcome. Your thoughts?

I wanted to bear my testimony about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The Church is the the greatest organization in my life, and (if I may be so bold) the greatest organization on Earth. And, no matter where I've attended Church meetings on this planet, I've always felt perfectly at home. I love being part of a caring community of people who are constantly making a positive impact on this world, helping people both to endure challenges and to become their best selves.

And that's what it's done for me. Its influence on my life has proven entire positive. It's helped me to love/serve both God with all my soul and my neighbor as myself. It's helped me to prepare to be a good husband and father. It's helped me to both respect and appreciate free will (or moral agency). I'm far better than I ever would have ever been without it, and it's enriched my life in countless ways.

And it's all because of the Savior Jesus Christ. It's His Church, restored to this Earth in these last days, even if its members (including me) aren't always His figurative hands as much as we should be. And I know that this Church is His at least as surely as I know that I exist. I asked God Himself in prayer once and He answered me in unmistakable terms through His Holy Spirit in one of the most treasured experiences of my life.

And He can tell you, too, if you ask Him in humble faith with a sincere desire to both accept and follow whatever answer He gives. And I hope that you'll do so.