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We recently returned to the States to attend Robbie and Aubrey’s wedding at the Columbia River Temple (pic above, Sean, so it did happen). Getting to the Tri-Cities proved to...

Okay, okay, so I translated my talk to English. None of you have Google Translate? Or Reverso? Geez. Good morning dear brother and sisters. Marc-André (Morin) gave a talk on the...

This is the text of a talk I gave recently in the Lévis Branch. Unlike the last time, I just wrote this one out in French from the beginning, so I don’t have an English translation...

Those of you who read my blogs (at least when I can be bothered to actually write one–which seems to happen less and less frequently these days) know that I have thought a lot...

Well, it’s official. Sister Bates and I are halfway done with our mission. Or maybe I should say “this” mission. But what better way to celebrate than to take a trip...

Here is the text of a talk I gave in Sacrament Meeting in the Québec Branch on May 26, 2024. It is translated from the original French version that I already posted, so please forgive...

Here is the text of a talk I gave in Sacrament Meeting in the Québec Branch on May 26, 2024. I will try and post a version translated into English as well. Simon Comtois, so you get...

Sometimes it takes awhile for my ideas to converge and then coalesce sufficiently to write a blog that (hopefully) conveys something worth reading. This one has been weeks in the making–kind...

The word “intermission” is typically defined as a “pause or break” between two things. But a pause or break between what things–that is today’s question....

“Elder and Sister Bates, would you sign my ‘bye-bye’ book?” The next thing I know, we are writing a few words of affirmation in a sister missionary’s journal...

Well, that just happened. On Friday night Mary and I became the first missionaries in known history (along with the awesome sister missionaries–Soeur Suter and Soeur Wixom) to...

I have been thinking a lot lately about the uneasy tension between having and enforcing rules or policies and being a disciple of Christ. Let me preface this discussion by acknowledging...

I do most of my best thinking on the bike. And often after I have gotten bounced off the back of a peppy group ride or race once the serious climbing starts (something to do with that...

We take a lot of things for granted about where we live. Like what food you can find at the local grocery store. Can a brutha get some diced green chilis? Apparently not here in the...

As someone who has worn glasses virtually his entire life, I did not look forward to the time when I would have to get the dreaded bi-focal. Imagine my delight when that day arrived...

Well, we are finished with the MTC. Actually, I was low key finished with the MTC after the first week, but Mary decided we needed to enjoy the second week as well! That actually ended...

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Or so Lao Tzu supposedly said. I remember when Adam was learning to walk. He would stand up, balance, and look...

What comes to mind when you heard the word “pillar?” Perhaps you have a moment of panic as you recall studying for your Humanities final in college, trying to remember the...

I was talking to my sister, who has also recently retired, about her plans, and whether she was still considering serving a mission. During that conversation, she posed a simple question...

Mary and I just returned from a trip to Boston to visit our newest grandson, who was barely a week old, and spend some time with his 2 year old brother. I spent a lot of time observing...

With apologies to Tom Petty, I have been thinking a lot lately about “waiting.” Some of us are “waiting on a girl” (sorry, Foreigner flashback). Some of us are...