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In our Relief Society presidency meeting this week (relief society is a worldwide organization of women dedicated to service and education - each ward in our church has its own 'branch' of relief society)- Jan read a quote from President Harold B. Lee - who was prophet of our church when I was born, in the 70's. It was powerful and I wanted to share some snippets from his book "Ye Are the Light of the World". They are perfect for this patriotic time of year. While President Lee wrote these words decades ago, they ring even more true now than back then . . .

The Lord help us to keep in memory our ancestors that we might be willing to uphold and sustain, by our lives and all that we possess, that for which they gave so much.

. . . We should not be concerned about finding out what is wrong with America, but we should be finding what is right about America and should be speaking optimistically and enthusiastically about America.

We are living in a time of great crisis. The country is torn with scandal and with criticism, with faultfinding and condemnation. There are those who have downgraded the image of this nation as probably never before in the history of the country. It is so easy to clamber onto the bandwagon and to join the extremists in condemnation, little realizing that when they commit their actions, they are not just tearing down a man; they are tearing down a nation, and they are striking at the underpinnings of one of the greatest of all the nations of all the world—a nation that was founded upon an inspired declaration we call the Constitution of the United States.

I plead with you not to preach pessimism. Preach that this is the greatest country in all the world. This is the favored land. This is the land of our forefathers. It is the nation that will stand despite whatever trials or crises it may yet have to pass through.