Murray Ceff's Blog

I've been thinking for a long time about the story in The Book of Mormon, Alma chapter 17, involving Ammon protecting King Lamoni's sheep. There's some detail in the story that has never made sense to me. If you have read this story before, you'll know that Ammon enters the land of Ishmael, which is not friendly territory for him, as the land is inhabited by the descendants of the sons of Ishmael, who became Lamanites. Ammon was a Nephite, and to say that the Lamanites and the Nephites didn't like each other would be an understatement. So when Ammon entered the land of Ishmael, the Lamanites captured him, bound him and took him before the King and the King then asked Ammon if he wished to dwell among them. Ammon must have made a very good impression by saying that he was happy to dwell among them, even till the day he died, because the king then offered Ammon one of his daughters as his wife. I don't really know why Ammon said no to this offer (maybe he'...

In 1 Nephi 19:23 Nephi tells us that he read the books of Moses and of Isaiah to his people and that he did “ liken   all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning.” I think this is good advice, but it is sometimes harder to “liken the scriptures” to ourselves than at other times, and sometimes we just forget to try. We can be so intent on just “getting through another chapter” that we don’t even try to “liken”. When I say “we” perhaps I just mean “me”. Perhaps I am the only one who reads and doesn’t “liken” and just tries to get through another chapter? The chapters towards the end of Alma can be particularly difficult. All this war and bloodshed is not something that we can easily “liken”. Most of us are not fighting for possession of our homes and cities. Most of us are not in armies doing this away from our homes. I think most of us are very familiar with the story of Helaman and the 2000 stripling warriors, young men who were sent in to battle...

I must be getting old. I see photos of myself and I look old. I see myself in the mirror and I look old. I find it more difficult physically to do things that were once easy. I forget to do things, and sometimes I do things twice, forgetting that I've already done it! Heck, I am only 57. It's all down hill from here. I can't imagine what it must be like to be in your eighties! One of the ironic things about the way I feel, is that I am actually in pretty good shape for 57. Sort of average in my peer group though, the guys that I hang out with, and the girl I have been blessed to live with for the last 18 years. We are all pretty active, exercising regularly, eating good food in moderation, not drinking or any other unhealthy vice like that. When I tell some people that I went surfing in the morning  before work at 7.00am and then kite surfing after work for a couple of hours they sort of look at me like I am a bit crazy. Most of those types look way older than they actual...

Ordain Women - How would it work? I am wondering if anyone in the OW network has stopped to think about how things would actually work in the Church if a revelation ever was received that lead to a change in the way things are currently managed in the Church. I am not pretending to be any great authority on Church organization or doctrine, and I am certainly not a great writer on these sorts of things. I simply want to ask questions. If you have all the answers, well that’s great. So let me ask some questions of you. How would this work? With regard to ordinations - do you want women to receive the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods? Would we start ordaining 12 year old girls to be Deacons, 14 year olds to become teachers and 16 year olds to become priests? Who would get to pass the sacrament? Boys one week, girls the next, or perhaps would should mix it up? What about preparing and blessing the sacrament? Would we have the girls prepare it one week and the boys pass...

I had originally intended to write a post titled What Would Bruce Do, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought that the things that Bruce did were amazing and they should be documented, at least from my perspective. I am not sure if Bruce Walshe kept a journal. He was so busy with everything else I don't know how he possibly could have had time to do that as well. But maybe he did. He was so obedient to the counsel of our Church leaders that he most likely did, and I am sure it would make an interesting read. I don't know much about Bruces' early life. I didn't meet him until I was 24 years old (32 years ago) and he would have been 28. He was a convert to the Church in his early 20's and I was a convert at 24. He was found by i n 1976 Elder David Young and Elder Jeff Gillette when they felt impressed to go tracting in a Graves St in Essendon within the Glenroy Ward boundaries. I was found by missionaries when they tracted the street that I lived in, i...

Bruce leading from the front, pulling the cart. A couple of years ago on the Trek. The following post is by Adam Roberts, my first guest blogger. Not quite a Mormon Aussie Bloke, we will call him a Kiwi Mormon Aussie Bloke, that'll do! Murray has inspired me to put a few words to cyberspace. His invitation was to close friends and family which may result in a quite a few doing the same because Bruce made everyone feel like a close friend. He was the man who had a smile and a twinkle in his eye for everyone. When I think about Geelong Ward, Bruce Walshe is always the first person to come to mind. He was the Bishop when I first moved over from New Zealand with my family. Swept back silver hair almost like wings attached the side of his head, piercing blue eyes and a smile that that was always on the verge of a chuckle. I wasn ’ t long in the ward when Bruce felt I needed a bit of coaching in the Bishopric. Murray “ Muzz ” Ceff was his other counsellor and I saw a love and...

Bruce Walshe b.  22/08/1953 d.13/03/2014 at Bell's Beach I am going to write a few posts here, hopefully over the next couple of days, just to try to explain to everyone a few things that have transpired over the last few days and how it has affected me and others. Please contribute to the conversation, either here on this blog or on Facebook. I really want those closest to Bruce and those he loved the most, his family, to contribute too. It may be hard, but it will help. Writing stuff down helps get it out of your head a bit. It's great therapy. I should do it more. This post is simply titled "What happened Thursday 13 March 2014". Many of you want to know step by step what could have happened to take Bruce from us so suddenly, with little warning, so unexpectedly and so sadly. Another post will be WWBD - "What Would Bruce Do". Another one "Why we surf (and do other crazy things)". Another one might be "Why we believe what we believe...