The Church of Jesus Christ

Normally I like to stay as far under the radar as possible but with Christianity coming under increasing attack from all sides, it seemed good to post some of my views.

First, there is such a huge diversity of beliefs among Christians that it becomes easy for non-Christians, atheists, etc. to look at the Christian religion and conclude that it is concocted by people for their comfort (the opiate of the people), for profit or whatever. Obviously it cannot be given by God because there is so much confusion in it. It is true that God would not be the author of such confusion.

I was grateful, therefore, to have been placed in a position by my ancestors to come in contact with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also know as the Mormon Church. This church is based on the proposition that God has spoken in our time to a prophet named Joseph Smith, just as he spoke in "Biblical times" to Adam, Abraham, Moses, Samuel, Elijah, Peter and other prophets. (Amos 3:7) He taught Joseph and caused him to be the prophet of the restoration of the true church of Jesus Christ on earth.

As a teen-ager I had my doubts and questions about whether this was true or not. Fortunately, as part of the restoration, Joseph was made instrumental in translating and publishing The Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ. A person who will openly and honestly read The Book of Mormon and pray about it can receive a witness that it is true. This I have done. I know that it is true that the Father and the Son appeared to Joseph and that they revealed to him truths that do away with the confusion experienced by the Christian world at large. They revealed God's great plan of happiness which makes sense of the experiences of this life and the things that are going on in the world.

I am grateful for the knowledge and the peace that comes from the Gospel of Jesus Christ. You can learn more about this by going to www.mormon.org.

OK, I'm tagged.

Four jobs I've had:
Paper route in New Hampshire
Custodial at BYU (twice)
Research Analyst at Family History Services
Chief Deputy Assessor

Places I've lived:
Mill Valley, CA
Izmir, Turkey
Portsmouth, NH
Provo/Orem, UT

Movies I love:
Man for All Seasons
The Dickens set

Favorite Foods:
Barbecued ribs
Chinese
Italian

Favorite Music/Rock bands:
Beethoven symphonies
Brahms symphonies
Igneous and Sedimentary (the latter has the best bands)

One Superpower:
To be quiet and create

Four weird things about me:
The name "Claude"
I'm not into sports.
Can't keep my office uncluttered.
I know how to TimeSert a Northstar engine.

Favorite shows:
Nothing current. I told the Dish salesman that we are trying to keep as much TV out of our house as possible. Ended that call in a hurry.

Places I'd rather be: (actually, places I'd like to be and come back. I'd rather be at home.)
Portsmouth, NH
Anywhere in the Caribbean
Virginia/Maryland
Hawaii
England/Wales
Holy Land/Egypt
Australia/New Zealand
Brazil

People I'm tagging:
Cynthia V Richards
Cynthia C Richards
Amy Tolk
Weston Ricks

I love you all. You're the best!!!

The airplane above is one of only about 15 surviving B-47's from the the Cold War Era. While there are still lots of B-52's in the boneyard in Tucson, the only B-47's are in museums and many are in very bad shape. Hill Air Force Base Aerospace Museum recently acquired one.
I grew up at Pease Air Force Base in Portsmouth, New Hampshire where there must have been nearly a hundred of these planes.

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