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Meet Morgan (on the left, from Utah) and Koby (right, from Colorado). These boys showed up at our farm, randomly, on a typically rainy Northwest day last November, asking if we had any work they could do. I think it took Ginger and I several moments to process that question and come up with an answer, which obviously was, “Hell yes! Do you have boots, and can you actually @&$!?$ # work?”

That’s when we found out we were cussing to a couple of Mormon missionary boys. Well, no lightning bolts hit us so we figure God probably has a sense of humor.

Just for a moment, let’s all dwell on something positive here - like the fact this younger generation has the ability to be truly wonderful. Yeah, we said that. But maybe we’ve all been conditioned to think differently?

Let’s face it, Social Media is a blazing dumpster of negativity and dispair; it’s the eternal, slow motion train wreck we all despise and yet we just can’t look away. But now, here, we’re bringing out a fire extinguisher - at least for this one particular dumpster fire.

How or why these boys ended up way out at the end of the road (literally) in the middle of an Oregon wilderness was something we never asked, but we sure did put them to work. And let’s be honest; it’s farm work, so none of this is easy or fun, all of it is messy and most of it smells bad. But there they were, working side by side with us.

So, on that day, when the work was finally done, we go to pay Koby and Morgan for their labor. “Oh thank you, but no we won’t accept money.” What? Ginger and I didn’t know what to do. “But you worked here, with us…you boys did all that hard work. How do you pay your rent and all if you won’t accept a wage?”

Koby replies, “We had jobs and saved up to do this”. Again - wait, what? You worked, saved the money...so you could come work for us for free? Then he says, “When can we come back?” Morgan, smiling broadly, says nothing. We’d come to learn eventually that Morgan wasn’t a talker, but he definitely communicates with that smile.

We see all the time - especially on social media - how folks are frustrated with young adults these days, criticizing their lack of motivation, thinking they are soft and wrapped up in entitlement. We’ve been guilty of that, too. But we were wrong - or at the least we’ve come to understand the stereotype is not absolute.

These two boys? We’ve had them working with us at the farm a dozen times since then - hard, boring, dirty, frustrating physical labor - but for some reason, they keep wanting to know when they can come back and do more. So we have them back.

And then today, it was time that both boys are to be moving on to their next assignment- probably another state, maybe another country. Both boys - as they stood there in the mud, worn through from laboring - told Ginger and I that when they eventually meet that one girl and settle down, they want to return to our farm in the Oregon wilderness to get married here, at this place where they worked so hard, this random farm they happened to land on one day, knowing we’d most likely turn them away.

Of course we said yes, we’d love having them back. And we truly would. These two changed the paradigm. We’d absolutely trim the barn up for them.

Good people exist, right now. Good, young, hardworking, intelligent people. This crazy, broken, confused world just may work itself out after all.

Have faith, farm on.

We need to stop judging other members for not being ‘Latter-day Saint enough’ Let’s confess — most of us have made quick judgments about people who don’t fit our mental image of a modern-day disciple of Christ. Too often we want white teeth, short hair, crisp shirts, light makeup and maroon minivans.

How a Latter-day Saint man related to Apostles left the Church, found Buddhism, and became a Latter-day Saint again It's not surprising to find Thomas Wirthlin McConkie's pedigree includes Bruce R. McConkie, a former apostle and scriptorian, and Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, a beloved apostle. However, what is surprising is this man's story of how he left the Church, traveled to different countries, found Buddism,…

It matters: Things to remember when your child doesn’t seem to be listening One year for Christmas, my grown-up daughter gave me a mason jar full of little slips of paper. On the lid were written the words “It Mattered.” On each slip of paper in the jar she had written a little memory that stood out to her of things I had done or said that made a difference in her life.

(2/3) “Forgiveness has been a process for me. I’ve learned that to regain a level of peace, I have to let things go. A lot of us are carrying around burdens in the form of anger and revenge which at times can lead us to a dark place. I was feeling this and was desperate to find peace. I was always taught to forgive, but I knew this would be difficult. As I started this process, I began to experience the peace that I was longing for. As I got to that point, I took it to the next level, which was ‘What would Jesus do?’ Two things came to mind. First, when the Savior was on the cross, He said, ‘Forgive them; for they know not what they do’ (Luke 23:34). I knew that as a follower of Christ, I needed to forgive others. If He could, then I could. Second, how many times do I get on my knees to ask the Lord’s forgiveness? How would I feel if He asked me, ‘Did you forgive others after all the times I forgave you?’ I felt like Peter when he asked Jesus, ‘How oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?’ Jesus replied, ‘I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven’ (Matthew 18:21–22). Again I was reminded of the importance of forgiveness. Once I learned to forgive, all the feelings of anger and revenge were lifted, and I found true peace.” —Manti