Warning!

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Priesthood session of the April 2006 conference.

From President James E. Faust:

I counsel all of you brethren to avoid every kind of addiction. At this time Satan and his followers are enslaving some of our choicest young people through addiction to alcohol, all kinds of drugs, pornography, tobacco, gambling, and other compulsive disorders. Some people seem to be born with a weakness for these substances so that only a single experimentation will result in uncontrollable addiction. Some addictions are actually mind-altering and create a craving that overpowers reason and judgment. These addictions destroy the lives not only of those who do not resist them but also their parents, spouses, and children. As the prophet Jeremiah lamented, "The inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates." The Lord in His wisdom has warned us that substances that are not good for us should be totally avoided.

Oh how I wish our son had listened and obeyed, rather than ending as a causality in the war of good versus evil. 

James' last birthday, 17 September 2022, age 26

Memorial Day

 

Today is set aside as a day to remember those who gave their life to preserve our liberties. 

 

Another war is going on all around us and there are casualties every day. Yesterday we visited the grave of our son who was a casualty in the ongoing war of good and evil. Satan overpowered him in the end, but the devil will not win the war. Fortunately for us, the outcome is already known. Be sure to stay suited up in the correct jersey and fight to the very end.

Rest in peace James, you are beyond Satan's reach now.

I 'm so grateful for all the men and women who have given their lives to establish our great nation and to keep it together, and free all these years. May they be remembered and honored forever.

I also want to remember and honor all those who have given their lives in the service of God while building His kingdom. Those spiritual warriors deserve recognition too.

James

We have set up a donation site at GoFundme for any who want to contribute to help settle James' affairs and cover funeral expenses. 

Our Son

 

James Frederick Thoelke
17 September 1996 - 24 April 2023

Our precious son took his life yesterday. He had struggled for many years with deep feelings of worthlessness, and alcohol, a dangerous combination. The demons who tormented him wore him down to where he couldn't take anymore.

He leaves a huge hole in our hearts and will be missed until we all graduate from this mortal boarding school and meet again. My mother was with us, by my bedside, when James was born, I think she held him first. His was the only one of our children's baptisms that my parents were able to attend. I hope they were the first to greet him on the other side.

I'm so grateful for the bedrock of my testimony and can say, like Job of old, "I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God." (Job 19:25-26)