Murray Ceff's Blog

  l to r. Elder Jones, me, Elder Hatch 8 November 1981 Chapter 3 - Early twenties I lived in Queensland for quite a few years in my early twenties. My drug use was a problem, but I didn’t particularly want to stop. It was a part of my life, that I strangely thought was a positive influence. But negative experiences can lead to positive outcomes, if you want them to, and you are open to change. I started to develop health problems which were becoming a bit of a nuisance. I was having problems with digestion, and I sought help with an acupuncturist. A friend of ours was studying acupuncture at a new college in Brisbane, and they had a student clinic, so I went there for help. There was a very experienced Vietnamese fellow named Trinh working there as an instructor for the students and he oversaw my treatment. It seemed his most senior student was a very likeable Australian guy called Peter (I think). He said that I had a “cold stomach” and he used needles and moxibustion to heat ...

 Chapter 2 The rebellious teenage years Yep that's me at about 19 years of age I guess when I look back on my life, I tend to think of it as pre-school, primary school, and high school, then early 20’s, and beyond. If I look back in a spiritual sense though, it’s more like Presbyterianism, rebellion, searching, finding, pre-mission, post-mission and soon it will be a mission again. I’m not sure what really sparked the rebellious phase in my early teens. At one stage, I thought it was all about surfing, but as I think about it a little more deeply, it was possibly initiated a little bit more by the counter-culture revolution of the 60’s and 70’s. Surfing was part of that revolution, but I think there certainly could have been room for me to keep participating in family Church attendance and also pursue my love of surfing. The counter-culture revolution was a result of a few different factors coming together. One factor was the rise of feminism and at about the same time the inve...

 I have a habit, and I believe that it is a good habit, of trying to memorize scriptures. As I try to memorize them, they have more of an impact on me and I think more about how I can apply the teaching of a particular verse in my life. It's the first part of this verse that really caught my attention. "For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ..." 2 Nephi 25:23 I feel, after studying this verse, that what I have in my head, I should put "on paper", or more accurately, as text on a screen, in part to persuade my children, and others, to believe in Jesus Christ. So I have started writing my life story, at least the part of my life that is most important, and that is about my spiritual life, the side of my life that has eternal significance. Whether we like it or not, I believe we all have this side to our lives. Perhaps we ignore it, and pretend it does not exist. But I choose to believe it and so I tr...