Hello, why religion friends? John Hilton here. Today we live in a world of instant communication,

and there are pros and cons to the speed at which we text and tweet. On the one hand, we can get

messages out quickly and more efficiently to share the good news of the gospel with others. But on

the other hand, so much of what we write quickly vanishes. That's one reason why journals are so important.

Journals provide a record that people in the future can learn from. For example, many of us have

learned from Anne Frank. At one point in her diary, she wrote, it's really a wonder that I haven't

dropped all my ideals because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out.

Yet I keep them because in spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.

Those words stir our souls when we think about the context Anne Frank was living in.

And because she took the time to record her thoughts,

we can still learn from her today. Now, I'm not telling you this to make you feel guilty

if you haven't been journaling lately, although if you haven't been, it's a friendly reminder.

I'm sharing this because of the recent publication of Brigham Young's journals. This new

resource provides a valuable perspective not just on Brigham Young's journals. This new resource provides a valuable perspective,

not just on Brigham Young's life, but also on the development of the Church of Jesus Christ

of Latter-day Saints. There are lots of things that by studying Brigham Young's journals,

you get to learn about some of these events that everybody knows about, but you get to learn about them from someone who is not always an apostle.

It doesn't become an apostle until 1835.

Not always the head of the apostles, not always the leader of the church.

And that perspective of someone who's going through these difficulties

and trials, like the violence in Missouri, and how they react to it, I think is invaluable to

a Latter-day saint today.

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