New Cover

So I finally got around to changing the blog cover image to say what the new name of my blog is due to me being on a YCSM here is the picture of the cover. I plan on trying out general conference quotes  the same way as this cover for the next general conference.

Spiritual sleeping bag

hare is my current drawing that I've finished:

"I asked in disbelief, “Why not, Paul?” Silence—then finally the sheepish reply: “Well, I thought if I didn’t unroll my sleeping bag, I wouldn’t have to roll it up again.”True story: he froze for hours because he was trying to save five minutes of work. We may think, “How foolish! Who would ever do that?” Well, we do it all the time in much more dangerous ways. We are, in effect, refusing to unroll our spiritual sleeping bags when we don’t take the time to sincerely pray, study, and earnestly live the gospel each day; not only will the fire go out, but we will be unprotected and grow spiritually cold." - Gary B. Sabin

3rd place in fair art show - Mount St. Helen's south side

So last week, I got 3rd place in the category I submitted to amateur - landscapes here is a picture of me with my painting to the left and the painting below here

Mount St. Helen's south side

 Got the award last week.

Molly the lab and pit bull mix dog and more

So I took my Molly the lab and pit bull mix dog drawing to the Eastern Oregon art festival last week, and although I did not get any awards, I got tips on how to improve my art.
Here it is finished :

Finished

and Framed

Framed

I also put in this picture that I took last year, near Secret Beach, Oregon.

Here I am at the art show

I have also started typing a collection of my Great-Great Grandpa Earl Dewey Fisher Stories, and plan on adding them individually to genealogy sites, and one or more books for Short stories that he had hoped one day to published, but died before he could make that happen. 

I now have art for sale right here  The price of the art ranges from free to $30. Extra costs are have to pay  is shipping and handling, and an optional cost is for if you it to come framed which is $15 from combined cost of $11 for a 11x14 frame, $3 for the extra S&H and $1 for the cardboard box to ship it all in. Normal Shiping is the Drawing, and DIY packaging in a vanilla envelope. Plans for an art sales blog is in the making. There will be an art for sale and a flopped art for sale page. All of my art I've made, that is not on this blog I plan on making soon, will be not for sale art. Some of the not for sale art will be just temporarily not for sale, and the rest is indefinitely not for sale.   

 Thought I'd add this scripture:
Mosiah 4:30 But this much I can tell you, that if ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and continue in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord, even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish. And now, O man, remember, and perish not.

Molly lab/pitX dog WIP 2 and more

So here is my progress on my drawing

6-21-17

6-23-17

6-24-17

and here is a verse I feel like sharing :
Moroni 7:46-47 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail— But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.
In institute last week we went over Abraham 1
I was on vacation last week, and on the the way home my family went on a hike over at June Lake near Mount St. Helens.

Molly drawing for the Eastern Oregon art festival and more

This year I've decided to be part of the Eastern Oregon art festival. As a good portion of the drawings and paintings I've made in the 5 years is technically not original art, I've gone with making a new drawing for that purpose. So I have a drawing of my dog Molly, That I'm going to be calling "Molly the Lab and Pit bull mix dog" I'll be calling it by the abbreviated name "Molly lab/pitX dog" for now on this blog until I finish it.

2 days ago

one day ago

I plan on add flowers and a shadow by the time I finish this. I've also noticed that there is some parts at an angle and straight at others, so I plan on fixing the straight stuff to be angled as in the picture I'm basing this off to avoid a similar problem with how a drawing of a Rhodesian ridgeback I made back in October 2015. 

So in institute this week we went over Moses Chapter 8.

here is a scripture I felt like sharing: 

Malachi 4:6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. 

"stray pit bull puppy" WIP

I didn't add some WIP pictures of  "stray pit bull puppy" that I had planned on adding to a post before making  Art and Genealogy

Start of  2 to last art layer

In the middle of   2 to last art layer

Art and Genealogy

I do realize that I haven't made a post in the last few weeks. This has been due to spending my free time doing "stray pit bull puppy",

(This is a dog I thought was a Stray. It turned out it was just a free range dog from up the street where I live.) 

and family history. There is this really cool genealogy site to check out if you have a Familysearch account. It's called relativefinder. I just felt like sharing that because I found out I have 10 direct ancestors I wouldn't have otherwise known that they were Pilgrims. There are also other groups of interest that you can check, like the martin and willie handcart companies. I know now that I have 50 of the people who were on Willie handcart company. People of interest I would like to talk about are Robert Frost, Norman Rockwell, and Georgia O'Keefe. I found  relations to them as well. This is a great  site for getting started on genealogy.
We went over Moses 6 in Institute this week.
I feel like sharing 2 verses this time
Helaman 5:12 And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.
John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Update 5/13/17

This week in Institute we went over Moses chapter 2. On stray pit bull puppy I have the pen outline finished. The next step to do is the colored outline. Here is the outline before I started to use my kneaded eraser, and after making last moment changes before adding the pen out line.

pencil outline

pen outline

Here is the scripture for today from Scripture a day widget :

St Matthew Chapter 4:10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

Art update 4/29/17

So I finished Wandering Elephant 

1 Nephi 8:28 "... and they fell away into forbidden paths and were lost."

Made with a mechanical pencil, pink pearl eraser, kneeded eraser, india ink pen, colored india ink pen, inktenese pencil, black gel pen, prismacolor marker, Prismacolor Verithin Colored Pencil, Prismacolor Colored Pencil, Prismacolor colorless blending marker for Colored Pencils, and light green studio g marker
Time : about 3 hours 19 min over 9 days

I also started a drawing based off a dog that got loose and so my family made sure it got to the local pet rescue. I have given it the name "stray pit bull puppy"

Here is the scripture for today from Scripture a day widget :

2 timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness

Wandering Elephant WIP 2

this is what I got done yesterday

Here is the scripture for today from Scripture a day widget : 
Third Nephi 25:6 "And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."

Wandering Elephant WIP 1

All I feel like sharing this week is my progress on my art

I call this Wandering Elephant because when your faith wanders, you become thick headed

Faith without works is dead

"Because acting in accordance with the correct principles the Redeemer proclaimed is central to receiving and exercising true faith, “faith without works is dead.”10 We are to be “doers of the word, and not hearers only.” - David A. Bednar
Made with a mechanical pencil, pink pearl eraser, kneeded eraser, india ink pen, colored india ink pen, inktenese pencil, white gel pen, grey watercolor pencil, prismacolor marker water, and painter's tape
Time : about 2 hours 21 min over 11 days

General conference April 2017 sunday

Due to what happened this week, that is mostly due to adding my ancestors names to my Geni.com family tree, I lost track of time getting a post done for this last week.
Here are my quotes I would like to share about last sunday.
Prayerfully study  the book of mormon each day - Thomas S Monson
[a young boy] I kept my promises because I said I would - Joy D Jones
Build a strong relationship with Jesus Christ - Yoon Hwan Choi
We must put aside the things of this world for something better [heaven] - Ronald A Rasband
Trust in the lord and whatsoever he say unto you, do it - L. Whitney Clayton
The Holy Ghost is the third member of the Godhead - Dallin H Oaks
We have a heavenly father who loves us - Dallin H Oaks
Church sleep is among the healthiest of all sleeps - Dieter F Uchtdorf
Fear's influence is temporary and shallow - Dieter F Uchtdorf
Do we live in a time of fear and turmoil, of course we do - Dieter F Uchtdorf
Those who are wicked and repentant will be forgiven - D. Todd Christofferson
Take the missionaries seriously - Joaquin E Costa
Learn to see others as the lord sees them - S. Mark Palmer
How does the holy ghost help you ? - Gary E- Stevenson
you are not alone in this world - Benjamín De Hoyos
faith in the lord Jesus Christ is essential - Quinten L Cook

Update 4/1/17

Today was General conference, you can find more about it at General Conference April Saturday 2017. We read chapters 24 & 25 in Institute. I didn't get any work done on  Faith without works is dead as My  family went on spring break vacation to Portland and Multnomah falls.
Here are some pics I took :

from Scripture a day widget :
D&C 18:16 And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!

Daily Messages

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He Lives "I suggest that you memorize scriptures that touch your heart and fill your soul with understanding." —Richard G. Scott, "He Lives" Topics: Scripture Study

General Conference April Saturday 2017

So today was the first day of General Conference and here are a bunch of quotes from my notes and twitter retweets.

the LDS general conference Saturday morning session

"Even in the most difficult and darkest of times, there is light and goodness all around us." - Mark A Bragg
"We can find comfort in our savior, because he he suffered as well" -Weatherford T. Clayton
"Heavenly Father's commandments are his care package" - M. Joseph Brough
"A repenting sinner draws closer to God than does the self-righteous person who condemns that sinner." - Dale G Renlund 

"Families are the basic unit of the heavenly realm" - Henry B. Eyring
the LDS general conference Saturday Afternoon session
"we're all called to be disciples of the savior" - Robert D Hales 
"take the name of the savior and follow him" - Robert D Hales 
“The loss of even one voice diminishes every other singer in this great mortal choir of ours.” - Jeffrey R. Holland
"Believe in yourself, and believe in Him." - Jeffrey R. Holland
"We may need to let go of the world so we can hang on to eternity." - Gary B. Sabin
"Overcoming the world is not one defining moment in a lifetime, but a lifetime of moments that define an eternity." - Neil L Andersen
"short term goals are only effective if they lead to long term goals" -M. Russell Ballard
the LDS general conference Priesthood session
When we walk the path of the priesthood Jesus goes with us, as it is his right, his way - Henry B. Eyring
He who is greatest among you will be your servant - Dieter F. Uchtdorf

New Blog name

As I am an Elder, I have changed the name from Justyn's to Elder Simon's LDS Blog, which will be on the header once I finish general conference quotes drawings.

Update 3/25/17 #2

There was some things I didn't add yesterday due to being short on time, so have decided to make this post now.
This is the drawing I  finished last week:
The Sun and Moon :

True disciples are drawn to “worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters—calling upon the name of the Lord day and night." - Dean M. Davies
Made with a mechanical pencil, pink pearl eraser, kneeded eraser, india ink pen, colored india ink pen, inktenese pencil, white gel pen water, and painter's tape
Time: about 1 hour and 45 min over 16 days.

And I finally put my mission plaque picture in the plaque 

 This is the mission  plaque picture uncropped :

 

Update 3/25/17

So this week's lesson in Institute was #22 Creating a Successful Family
Here is the talk for it

Good, Better, Best

Dallin H. Oaks

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

We have to forego some good things in order to choose others that are better or best because they develop faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and strengthen our families.

Most of us have more things expected of us than we can possibly do. As breadwinners, as parents, as Church workers and members, we face many choices on what we will do with our time and other resources.

I.

We should begin by recognizing the reality that just because something is good is not a sufficient reason for doing it. The number of good things we can do far exceeds the time available to accomplish them. Some things are better than good, and these are the things that should command priority attention in our lives.

Jesus taught this principle in the home of Martha. While she was “cumbered about much serving” (Luke 10:40), her sister, Mary, “sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word” (v. 39). When Martha complained that her sister had left her to serve alone, Jesus commended Martha for what she was doing (v. 41) but taught her that “one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her” (v. 42). It was praiseworthy for Martha to be “careful and troubled about many things” (v. 41), but learning the gospel from the Master Teacher was more “needful.” The scriptures contain other teachings that some things are more blessed than others (see Acts 20:35; Alma 32:14–15).

A childhood experience introduced me to the idea that some choices are good but others are better. I lived for two years on a farm. We rarely went to town. Our Christmas shopping was done in the Sears, Roebuck catalog. I spent hours poring over its pages. For the rural families of that day, catalog pages were like the shopping mall or the Internet of our time.

Something about some displays of merchandise in the catalog fixed itself in my mind. There were three degrees of quality: good, better, and best. For example, some men’s shoes were labeled good ($1.84), some better ($2.98), and some best ($3.45).1

As we consider various choices, we should remember that it is not enough that something is good. Other choices are better, and still others are best. Even though a particular choice is more costly, its far greater value may make it the best choice of all.

Consider how we use our time in the choices we make in viewing television, playing video games, surfing the Internet, or reading books or magazines. Of course it is good to view wholesome entertainment or to obtain interesting information. But not everything of that sort is worth the portion of our life we give to obtain it. Some things are better, and others are best. When the Lord told us to seek learning, He said, “Seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom” (D&C 88:118; emphasis added).

II.

Some of our most important choices concern family activities. Many breadwinners worry that their occupations leave too little time for their families. There is no easy formula for that contest of priorities. However, I have never known of a man who looked back on his working life and said, “I just didn’t spend enough time with my job.”

In choosing how we spend time as a family, we should be careful not to exhaust our available time on things that are merely good and leave little time for that which is better or best. A friend took his young family on a series of summer vacation trips, including visits to memorable historic sites. At the end of the summer he asked his teenage son which of these good summer activities he enjoyed most. The father learned from the reply, and so did those he told of it. “The thing I liked best this summer,” the boy replied, “was the night you and I laid on the lawn and looked at the stars and talked.” Super family activities may be good for children, but they are not always better than one-on-one time with a loving parent.

The amount of children-and-parent time absorbed in the good activities of private lessons, team sports, and other school and club activities also needs to be carefully regulated. Otherwise, children will be overscheduled, and parents will be frazzled and frustrated. Parents should act to preserve time for family prayer, family scripture study, family home evening, and the other precious togetherness and individual one-on-one time that binds a family together and fixes children’s values on things of eternal worth. Parents should teach gospel priorities through what they do with their children.

Family experts have warned against what they call “the overscheduling of children.” In the last generation children are far busier and families spend far less time together. Among many measures of this disturbing trend are the reports that structured sports time has doubled, but children’s free time has declined by 12 hours per week, and unstructured outdoor activities have fallen by 50 percent.2

The number of those who report that their “whole family usually eats dinner together” has declined 33 percent. This is most concerning because the time a family spends together “eating meals at home [is] the strongest predictor of children’s academic achievement and psychological adjustment.”3 Family mealtimes have also been shown to be a strong bulwark against children’s smoking, drinking, or using drugs.4 There is inspired wisdom in this advice to parents: what your children really want for dinner is you.

President Gordon B. Hinckley has pleaded that we “work at our responsibility as parents as if everything in life counted on it, because in fact everything in life does count on it.”

He continued: “I ask you men, particularly, to pause and take stock of yourselves as husbands and fathers and heads of households. Pray for guidance, for help, for direction, and then follow the whisperings of the Spirit to guide you in the most serious of all responsibilities, for the consequences of your leadership in your home will be eternal and everlasting.”5

The First Presidency has called on parents “to devote their best efforts to the teaching and rearing of their children in gospel principles. … The home is the basis of a righteous life, and no other instrumentality can take its place … in … this God-given responsibility.” The First Presidency has declared that “however worthy and appropriate other demands or activities may be, they must not be permitted to displace the divinely-appointed duties that only parents and families can adequately perform.”6

III.

Church leaders should be aware that Church meetings and activities can become too complex and burdensome if a ward or a stake tries to have the membership do everything that is good and possible in our numerous Church programs. Priorities are needed there also.

Members of the Quorum of the Twelve have stressed the importance of exercising inspired judgment in Church programs and activities. Elder L. Tom Perry taught this principle in our first worldwide leadership training meeting in 2003. Counseling the same leaders in 2004, Elder Richard G. Scott said: “Adjust your activities to be consistent with your local conditions and resources. … Make sure that the essential needs are met, but do not go overboard in creating so many good things to do that the essential ones are not accomplished. … Remember, don’t magnify the work to be done—simplify it.”7

In general conference last year, Elder M. Russell Ballard warned against the deterioration of family relationships that can result when we spend excess time on ineffective activities that yield little spiritual sustenance. He cautioned against complicating our Church service “with needless frills and embellishments that occupy too much time, cost too much money, and sap too much energy. … The instruction to magnify our callings is not a command to embellish and complicate them. To innovate does not necessarily mean to expand; very often it means to simplify. … What is most important in our Church responsibilities,” he said, “is not the statistics that are reported or the meetings that are held but whether or not individual people—ministered to one at a time just as the Savior did—have been lifted and encouraged and ultimately changed.”8

Stake presidencies and bishoprics need to exercise their authority to weed out the excessive and ineffective busyness that is sometimes required of the members of their stakes or wards. Church programs should focus on what is best (most effective) in achieving their assigned purposes without unduly infringing on the time families need for their “divinely appointed duties.”

But here is a caution for families. Suppose Church leaders reduce the time required by Church meetings and activities in order to increase the time available for families to be together. This will not achieve its intended purpose unless individual family members—especially parents—vigorously act to increase family togetherness and one-on-one time. Team sports and technology toys like video games and the Internet are already winning away the time of our children and youth. Surfing the Internet is not better than serving the Lord or strengthening the family. Some young men and women are skipping Church youth activities or cutting family time in order to participate in soccer leagues or to pursue various entertainments. Some young people are amusing themselves to death—spiritual death.

Some uses of individual and family time are better, and others are best. We have to forego some good things in order to choose others that are better or best because they develop faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and strengthen our families.

IV.

Here are some other illustrations of good, better, and best:

It is good to belong to our Father in Heaven’s true Church and to keep all of His commandments and fulfill all of our duties. But if this is to qualify as “best,” it should be done with love and without arrogance. We should, as we sing in a great hymn, “crown [our] good with brotherhood,”9 showing love and concern for all whom our lives affect.

To our hundreds of thousands of home teachers and visiting teachers, I suggest that it is good to visit our assigned families; it is better to have a brief visit in which we teach doctrine and principle; and it is best of all to make a difference in the lives of some of those we visit. That same challenge applies to the many meetings we hold—good to hold a meeting, better to teach a principle, but best to actually improve lives as a result of the meeting.

As we approach 2008 and a new course of study in our Melchizedek Priesthood quorums and Relief Societies, I renew our caution about how we use the Teachings of Presidents of the Church manuals. Many years of inspired work have produced our 2008 volume of the teachings of Joseph Smith, the founding prophet of this dispensation. This is a landmark among Church books. In the past, some teachers have given a chapter of the Teachings manuals no more than a brief mention and then substituted a lesson of their own choice. It may have been a good lesson, but this is not an acceptable practice. A gospel teacher is called to teach the subject specified from the inspired materials provided. The best thing a teacher can do with Teachings: Joseph Smith is to select and quote from the words of the Prophet on principles specially suited to the needs of class members and then direct a class discussion on how to apply those principles in the circumstances of their lives.

I testify of our Heavenly Father, whose children we are and whose plan is designed to qualify us for “eternal life … the greatest of all the gifts of God” (D&C 14:7; see also D&C 76:51–59). I testify of Jesus Christ, whose Atonement makes it possible. And I testify that we are led by prophets, our President Gordon B. Hinckley and his counselors, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Next I would like to share my latest WIP  Faith without works is dead :

From Daily Messages

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Meeting the Challenges of Today's World "The track that leads to marriage passes through the terrain called dating! Dating is the opportunity for lengthy conversations. When you date, learn everything you can about each other. Get to know each other’s families when possible." —Robert D. Hales, "Meeting the Challenges of Today's World", Ensign, November 2015 Topics: Dating from Scripture a day widget : Acts2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.