All of us are probably guilty at one time or another of participating in idle gossip and hearsay. How many times have we been a part of a conversation that begins something like the following: “I don’t know if it is true or not, but I heard that ____”? And we can each fill in the blank. How many times have we been found guilty of being the starters of such conversations?

Hearsay is like loose cannon fodder that strikes whatever happens to be in its path. It is like a rattle snake lurking in the weeds and bushes waiting to inject its deadly venom into its next innocent victim. It is the cog that turns the perpetual wheel of contention and strife. It is of no intrinsic value or worth unless there can be found a meager thread of evidence that substantiates that what is being said bears any resemblance to the actual truth.

Oftentimes whenever the person that started the proverbial ball of confusion rolling is questioned as to where they got their information, the response is usually that they heard it from ____, who heard it from ____, and it could go on ad infinitum.

Perhaps it all started with the victim of the hearsay sharing a matter in confidence with a “friend”, and that “friend” in turn told a “friend” who told a “friend”, and so forth and so on. What started out as a private conversation between two confidants ends up becoming the headline story on the front page of the local town gossip newspaper or, nowadays going viral on Facebook, or on Twitter or the Worldwide Web. Even the news media thrives on such material, typically with disclaimers such as, “It was reported in the ____ Times that ____”, or “Reliable government sources indicate that ____”. When all is said and done what may even have started as an absolute truth becomes a distorted web and hodgepodge of fabrications and lies with maybe a miniscule of truth mixed in for flavor.

Instead of continuing to drink from the dregs of a bottle of deadly poison, would it not prove to be of greater worth to go to the subject of the hearsay (or some nominally independent source like, “Snopes”) and obtain the actual facts and ultimately the truth? The least we can do is not pass it on unverified. This is just some food for thought.
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I do not mean to come across as being callous, cruel, or mean-spirited, but the older I get, the more discouraged and dishearten I become as I watch some of our young people - the future of our world, place themselves in a proverbial box called defeatism.

Where has the time gone? It is hard to believe that in just a few short hours another year will have come and gone and will have taken its place among the annals of history.

Wise men of old came from afar asking the timeless question, "Where is he that is born King of the Jews?" (Matthew 2:2). Following the star that they had seen in the east, they were led to where the Christ Child was.

The tiny babe who in Bethlehem’s manger lay was no ordinary child. Some people called Him the son of David. Others called Him the son of Joseph. The scriptures call Him the son of David, the son of Mary, the son of man, the Son of God.

Every year, 11 November is set aside as the day that we celebrate Veterans Day.

The Apostle Paul Preaching At the Areopagus (Mars Hill)

While on his second missionary journey, the Apostle Paul visited the city of Troas on the Mediterranean coast. While in Troas, a vision appeared to Paul in the night.

I know that someone is going to read the title of this article and their first thought is going to be, "Keith, I think that you might have that a little backwards.

The word “service” can be defined as the action of helping or doing work for someone. “Service” can also be defined as someone’s contribution to the welfare of others.

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming.

This talk was given on Saturday, September 03, 2011, on the occasion of the baptism of Andrew Jerry Calabrese.

With Hurricane Irene now behind us, I would like to use the analogy of a ship caught in a raging storm at sea to share my personal reflections and thoughts on how we as a family and as a Church should care for and protect one another during a time of crisis.

My father, the late John Wallace Brown, began working as a short-order cook during his High School years and continued working in that profession up until the time of his death on 20 November 2006, at 71 years of age.  He would be promoted during his career to Kitchen Manager.

This is an open address to the students of today and the future teachers and leaders of tomorrow to give them some food for thought as they begin a brand new school year.

Good morning. I would like to begin my remarks today by asking each of you a question.

Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the clarion voice of the American Civil Rights Movement, was assassinated on the evening of Thursday, 4 April 1968, at the young age of 39 years, while standing on the balcony of his room (room 306) at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis Tennessee.

I am but a young man of 52 years. However, within my short life time I have slowly watched the world spin out of control on a downward spiral. Many of the nonsensical things that are occurring in our day and time would have never been thought of or heard of when I was a young lad growing up.

All of us are probably guilty at one time or another of participating in idle gossip and hearsay. How many times have we been a part of a conversation that begins something like the following: “I don’t know if it is true or not, but I heard that ____”? And we can each fill in the blank.

In the twenty-second chapter of Matthew, beginning at verse 34, we read of a Pharisee, who was a lawyer by trade, who asks the Savior a question by saying, "Master, which is the great commandment in the law?" The Savior answers him by saying, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and

My father, the late John Wallace Brown, was a hard working man. As a young boy growing up it was not uncommon for my father to work two or three jobs just to pay the bills, keep food on the table, and a roof over his little family’s head.

This talk was given on the occasion of the baptism of Josephine Mae Hunter on 11 June 2011 in Annapolis Maryland.

“God does not send thunder if a still, small voice is enough” (Ensign, November 1976, p.14) - Neal A. Maxwell

President Howard W.

Someone once said, "The person who really wants to do something finds a way; the other person finds an excuse." Some people seem to have a knack for always having an excuse as to why they cannot do something, no matter how simple or difficult the task at hand may be.

President Gordon Bitner Hinckley
President Gordon Bitner Hinckley
President Gordon Bitner Hinckley
In Loving Memory Of A Prophet Of The Lord
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