I am not feeling well today and am therefore home from work. I have had three really funny things happen in the last 24 hours...all from my oldest son Taylor.
Last night: (I don't know what happened between my oldest daughter Malia and my son Taylor but I asked him to say the prayer at dinner last night and he prayed, with all sincerity I might add):
"...and please forgive Malia of her sins and...Heavenly Father, please remind her to repent and remind her that repentance is such an important thing and that she always needs to repent."
This morning: (Not feeling well also and is staying home from school)
"Dad, I am so sick, I don't even feel like watching a movie. I am sure that if I play a calm video game, I would feel better."
This morning: (Catey asked him to pray before the girls left for school)
"....and Father in Heaven, please bless the blind people and deaf people in the world, so they all will know where they are going..."
Funny kid.
Out of the mouths of babes.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
What is more important
I am starting this blog with a question....what is the most important part of any relationship in life. Most would say, right off the top of their head...love....I quote John Lennon "All we need is love."(....after all he was the Walrus. )
I disagree.
Others might come up with other points and say this or that but the truth is TRUST is the most important part of any relationship. Plenty of us know people we love whom we don't trust....yes, yes, I can see you all nodding your heads now with that half-cocked smile on your face. The very reason for that smile is the fact that you know truth when you see it.
So on to the point.
Marriage isn't a marriage if you don't have trust. If you ladies are wondering who your husband is with at 7:00 at night and that little butterfly of fear starts fluttering.... OR if you gentlemen wonder what your wife is doing all day and why she hides things from you....
I fortunately don't worry about those things and neither does Catey. I could be out to all hours of the night and not tell Catey where I was and she would not worry one bit that I might be with another woman. She will, however, kill me when I set foot in the house for not calling and telling her where I was and leaving her home to do all the kids, dinner and the house by herself but she wouldn't blink long enough for a thought of infidelity to arise. I feel the same.
Why am I writing this? A good friend of mine has not had the good fortune in marriage of which I have been blessed. I won't go into details to protect the innocent, however I will say his wife has abused his trust. My prayers are with him and his children...for the months to come will be filled with tears and despair.
It is my belief that those who willfully take the trust of another and use that to their advantage for gain only to leave the other wounded and raped of hope, will be handled by the wrath of a vengeful God...don't believe me?
....I quote Matthew 18:6 "But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."
Are we all not his 'little ones'?
So be nice, play nice, trust your spouse, trust your friends, be trustworthy and if that is not happening then please open some communication and find ways to trust and be trusted again. I know I have lost the trust of some (even those who live near me) and it saddens me deeply, it has always been by some careless mistake on my part or mutual misunderstanding.
TRUST: Don't leave home without it.
I disagree.
Others might come up with other points and say this or that but the truth is TRUST is the most important part of any relationship. Plenty of us know people we love whom we don't trust....yes, yes, I can see you all nodding your heads now with that half-cocked smile on your face. The very reason for that smile is the fact that you know truth when you see it.
So on to the point.
Marriage isn't a marriage if you don't have trust. If you ladies are wondering who your husband is with at 7:00 at night and that little butterfly of fear starts fluttering.... OR if you gentlemen wonder what your wife is doing all day and why she hides things from you....
I fortunately don't worry about those things and neither does Catey. I could be out to all hours of the night and not tell Catey where I was and she would not worry one bit that I might be with another woman. She will, however, kill me when I set foot in the house for not calling and telling her where I was and leaving her home to do all the kids, dinner and the house by herself but she wouldn't blink long enough for a thought of infidelity to arise. I feel the same.
Why am I writing this? A good friend of mine has not had the good fortune in marriage of which I have been blessed. I won't go into details to protect the innocent, however I will say his wife has abused his trust. My prayers are with him and his children...for the months to come will be filled with tears and despair.
It is my belief that those who willfully take the trust of another and use that to their advantage for gain only to leave the other wounded and raped of hope, will be handled by the wrath of a vengeful God...don't believe me?
....I quote Matthew 18:6 "But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."
Are we all not his 'little ones'?
So be nice, play nice, trust your spouse, trust your friends, be trustworthy and if that is not happening then please open some communication and find ways to trust and be trusted again. I know I have lost the trust of some (even those who live near me) and it saddens me deeply, it has always been by some careless mistake on my part or mutual misunderstanding.
TRUST: Don't leave home without it.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
LOST
Catey and I turned off our television in August of 2005....that is to say we discontinued the cable and quit watching regular TV. Of course we kept the TV but just only watched movies. It killed me the first couple of months but I learned the joy of a good book and read the entire Harry Potter series and the Dan Brown Angels
and Demons and Da Vinci Code all within about 6 weeks.
I had changed jobs since then and while training at my new job a co-worker of mine started browsing through websites about the TV show lost. Since I had not had TV in a while and had never seen it I didn't know thing one about this show. He would tell me stories in our cube about the show and the different characters and how they crossed paths before getting on the island but never knew it. I was intrigued. So I found a site (www.lostpedia.com) that had some of the episodes backlogged in written format and started reading to find out what was happening to these characters. Then the worst thing ever happened...I found out that ABC.com had started showing the episodes online the day after.....I knew some of the back story and watched my first episode online. The first episode I saw was the Finale to Season Two...well that was it...I had to know more.I had started telling Catey the stories and how I was so intrigued by them thinking she would never find it interesting...but to my surprise she seemed more interested than I did and wanted to play catch up. By the time season 3 started she and I wanted to start the series from the beginning so we could really know what was truly happening.
My cousin had season one and let us borrow it, so Catey and I started the insanity of LOST. Watched season one every night, two or three episodes, and by the time we finished that season two was out on DVD so we borrowed that from another friend and dove into that season, then season three was online so we watched season three and are now in the middle of season four.
I hate this show.
Its like a train wreck to me now...I can't look away...I gotta know what happens!
If you have never seen the show then you are blissfully unaware of the mental drug that is offered freely every Thursday night on ABC. I won't begin to tell you about the show or try to bring you up to speed but I will mention a few highlights:
1 - Plane crashes on a mysterious island (season 1)that appears to be some sort of research center (found out in season 2)and cannot be seen or found by the world off the island (season 3)
2 - People start dying or disappearing (season 1) and they seem to go live with the "Others" (season 2)
3 - Everyone on the plane seems to be related somehow to each other usually through situation but in some rare cases even blood or marriage.
4 - People that live on the island are bad guys, no maybe good guys, but still bad guys, but maybe good guys...but still.......
5 - 6 people from the plane crash will get off the island and live totally messed up lives.
So there...if you watch the show you will understand the insanity of those 5 bullet points. But here is where the insanity comes in. This show has a knack of asking 10 questions, answering 5 then while answering those 5 asking 10 more. Since this happens every episode you can see the hole we have all dug for ourselves in getting questions answered.WARNING I am about to start asking questions to the general public. Please don't scroll down if you don't watch the show as it might start your brain asking questions to which the only answer is to watch the show...then you will be just as trapped as the rest of us.
1 - What is the black smoggy monster
2 - Why is this island so special
3 - Is Ben really a good guy but we just all hate him
4 - Polar Bears?....
5 - Who is Adam and Eve? (dead bodies they found when they got the island)
6 - Black Rock....what the? Why is that even there?
7 - What does the Hanso foundation and Charles Widmore have in common? And why is Charles trying so hard to find the island.
8 - Dharma foundation? What, how, when, where, why,
9 - Locke...good, bad, what the heck?
10 - Why just 6 off the island and what is up with Jack, Kate and Hurley?
11 - Are they going to get back to the island or just stay home?
12 - Are all the people they left behind dead or still on the island?
Seriously...I have begun to hate Thursdays...well actually Friday afternoon because that is when Catey and I sit down and get caught up.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Peasants
Yesterday I had to leave the house at 5:20 pm to head out to a Young Mens activity (I am the 1st counselor and Varsity coach) and on the way out I tell the kids to obey their mom and help her while I am gone. I give Catey a big kiss then out the door. When I got home everyone was on the kitchen floor and mom was making them read from the "For the Strength of Youth" pamphlet where it reads how to treat others and your parents.
This tells me something went wrong. As I get the story from each child and Mom all I can ascertain is that all hell broke loose while I was gone and everyone and everything fell apart.
That is not the funny part.
The funny part came from Taylor later that night at his bedside.
Side note: I yell at my kids from time to time when I catch them doing something wrong, I also try to yell at them when I catch them doing something good. It lets them know that I don't always yell when I am mad.....it lets them know I just yell. No matter, bad or good, I always try to pull them aside and (while not yelling) telling them how much they mean to me and that I am trying to teach them and that I love them....
Back to the story: So I am in the middle of this and asking Taylor about his thoughts on the day and he said:
Taylor: "I am so sick of Alaina making Malia and I her peasants! We have to do everything for her, today, clean her room, drag her out of bed, get her shoes, get her clothes, make her breakfast, drag her out the door....we are not her peasants! And I am sick of it! Tomorrow she needs to make our beds, clean our rooms and be helpful to us to make up being her slave, I am so sick of being her peasant!!"
Me: "So let me make sure this is clear to me......you are tired of being a peasant to Alaina?!"
Taylor: "Yes and I am done being a peasant to her!"
Me: "Ok (stiffle laugh) I will try to make sure you are no longer a peasant in this house."
Taylor: "Thanks dad."
Me: "You are a good boy Taylor..."
Taylor: "I know dad."
So that was the conversation. Pretty funny stuff when you have a house full of peasants....er I mean kids.
This tells me something went wrong. As I get the story from each child and Mom all I can ascertain is that all hell broke loose while I was gone and everyone and everything fell apart.
That is not the funny part.
The funny part came from Taylor later that night at his bedside.
Side note: I yell at my kids from time to time when I catch them doing something wrong, I also try to yell at them when I catch them doing something good. It lets them know that I don't always yell when I am mad.....it lets them know I just yell. No matter, bad or good, I always try to pull them aside and (while not yelling) telling them how much they mean to me and that I am trying to teach them and that I love them....
Back to the story: So I am in the middle of this and asking Taylor about his thoughts on the day and he said:
Taylor: "I am so sick of Alaina making Malia and I her peasants! We have to do everything for her, today, clean her room, drag her out of bed, get her shoes, get her clothes, make her breakfast, drag her out the door....we are not her peasants! And I am sick of it! Tomorrow she needs to make our beds, clean our rooms and be helpful to us to make up being her slave, I am so sick of being her peasant!!"
Me: "So let me make sure this is clear to me......you are tired of being a peasant to Alaina?!"
Taylor: "Yes and I am done being a peasant to her!"
Me: "Ok (stiffle laugh) I will try to make sure you are no longer a peasant in this house."
Taylor: "Thanks dad."
Me: "You are a good boy Taylor..."
Taylor: "I know dad."
So that was the conversation. Pretty funny stuff when you have a house full of peasants....er I mean kids.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
HA! Beat that one!
65 wordsOK...ok I need to ammend this post. The WORLD RECORD is like 170 WPM. I had 314 posted as my time, I just edited the HTML to say that. My best is 65.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Last Minute
Warning, this is a long one.
Picture it...Sunday morning, your wife is letting you sleep in and the phone rings:
"ring ring"
Me: "Hello."
Bishop: "Good morning Bro. Ball, how are you
Me: "Fine, (groggy) just woke up to your call, what can I do for you?"
Bishop: "Well, the family that was speaking in church called me this morning and said that their kids are sick and won't be able to fulfill their assignment to speak, so I could think of nobody better to fill their spot than the Young Mens Presidency. You and the President will have the meeting. Can I count on you?"
Me: "Ha ha ha ha.... you're kidding right?!"
Bishop: "Nope...never been more serious."
Me: "Oh boy....ok, I will do it."
He gave me the option to pick whatever subject I wanted from the previous October conference so I picked something from my own life that was applicable. I took Elder L. Tom Perry's talk on raising the bar. Since I don't have a transcript or recording of it I will try to relate to the best of my knowledge what I shared (I will write this as though I am speaking):
Picture it...Sunday morning, your wife is letting you sleep in and the phone rings:
"ring ring"
Me: "Hello."
Bishop: "Good morning Bro. Ball, how are you
Me: "Fine, (groggy) just woke up to your call, what can I do for you?"
Bishop: "Well, the family that was speaking in church called me this morning and said that their kids are sick and won't be able to fulfill their assignment to speak, so I could think of nobody better to fill their spot than the Young Mens Presidency. You and the President will have the meeting. Can I count on you?"
Me: "Ha ha ha ha.... you're kidding right?!"
Bishop: "Nope...never been more serious."
Me: "Oh boy....ok, I will do it."
He gave me the option to pick whatever subject I wanted from the previous October conference so I picked something from my own life that was applicable. I took Elder L. Tom Perry's talk on raising the bar. Since I don't have a transcript or recording of it I will try to relate to the best of my knowledge what I shared (I will write this as though I am speaking):
Good afternoon....despite what the program says, I am not Sister Monson. I am glad that the Bishop feels comfortable enough to call on me to speak anytime.
When he called me this morning, I asked if he had a topic that he wanted me to address and he said I could pick anything from the October General Conference and I immediately thought of Elder Perry's talk on raising the bar. He directs his remarks to the upcoming missionary force but I think anything he said can be applied to us as members. He starts by saying:
"The bar was raised by the leaders of the Church, and the minimum standard for participating in [any service] is absolute moral worthiness; physical health and strength; intellectual, social, and emotional development."
He then refered back to the beginning of his talk where he sites a story about high-jumping and his son.
"In every high-jumping competition there is a minimum height at which the competition starts. The high jumper cannot ask to start at a lower height. In the same way, you should not expect the standards to be lowered to allow you to serve [faithfully]. If you want to [please the Lord], you must be able to clear the minimum standards."
He continues...
"But once you reach those minimum standards, shouldn’t you try to keep raising the bar? I ask you the same question... If you don’t raise the bar, how will you ever know your potential?” (Elder L. Tom Perry - Raising the Bar, October General Conference 2007, Priesthood session)
I submit to you that it is impossible to satisfy the Lord until you are just like him. As that is his goal to make you like him he will not be satisfied until the journey is through. That is not to say, he cannot be pleased. I think the Lord is easily pleased and is always looking for ways to be happy with our progress, however, he will always require a little more effort, to go a little further, push ourselves a little harder every day. This teaches us and helps us to grow.
Elder Perry goes on to give some ways in which the Aaronic Priesthood should be preparing for a mission, however, I think each of these can be applied in our lives.
He talks about improving your physical strength, this can be following the Word of Wisdom, not just making sure we steer clear of the 'don'ts' but keeping the 'do's' as well. Making sure we get some physical exercise and keep ourselves fit and healthy.
He talks about making sure we are taking care of ourselves with our physical appearance staying clean cut, always presenting ourselves well, having good hygiene and taking the time to make yourself look good and appropriate.
He wants us to improve intellectually by taking online courses of study, doing some type of continuing education...pick a subject and learn something about it. President Hinckley was always doing this....I quote from a column by Doug Robinson that was printed in the Deseret News on Tuesday, Jan 29, 2008. He was talking about the recent passing of President Hinckley and if he had the opportunity for the "last interview" what he would ask. Here is one of the questions he would ask:
How do you beat that? President Hinckley, arguably one of the busiest people on the Earth, finds time to do those things, we should try to do the same. I like what Mr. Robinson said about "We should all turn off our TVs and be so motivated." I can't remember the talk but I believe it was in a recent conference address that one of the Apostles said "We are not asking you to do more, but we are asking you to take a look at your life and cut something out and replace it with something spiritual." I apologize for not knowing the source...I hate doing that, but the point is valid. What could you trim out of your life that would allow for something to replace that will be for your good?
This gospel is one of sacrifice. I have a list of items that we do every day that should be reviewed often to see what can be cut:
TV
TiVo
Online Blogging - this is a big one in our home
email
Txt Messaging
IPods
Internet
Shopping
Girls (or Guys) night out
Pleasure reading
cell phone
The hours spent on these are enormous. I am not asking you to cut all, or even some of these out of your life, but review them and decide what can be reduced. How many of us would read the scriptures, but we want to watch our favorite TV show first....
or
How many of us have to sit down and watch more TV because the TiVo is running out of space and we need to free up some time to record all the shows we watch. If you are watching 6 TV shows a week, maybe cut one or two out and read the scriptures with your family.
Speaking of sacrifice, with the recent flooding we all have had to sacrifice some convenience while the Sweetwater road was closed due to the flooding and how many of us complained about that. How many of us complain that church is 15 min away. How many of us don't want to go to church today because its snowing, or its raining, or the wind was blowing or "I would love to go to church today but it conflicts with the Superbowl." I suggest you TiVo the game or record it on your ancient VCR player and watch it later....or (GASP) not even at all.
How many of us would go to the Temple...but its 30 min away, and it takes a lot of gas and I can't find a sitter...
Or how many of us would start our food storage, but costs too much and takes up too much room and it's inconvenient or takes up too much time...
Or with our callings, "yeah...I know I should be better at [fill in the blank calling] but its hard for me," or "I don't like my calling" or "I won't say no to the calling but don't plan on me doing it well"...
Or with service projects for the Ward. It seems to be an "I don't want to do it" or "It's someone else's turn....I did it last time."
This is a Church and Gospel of Sacrifice, if we are not willing to sacrifice for what is good then we will not be fit for the kingdom.
Going back to Elder Perry's talk he says we should be preparing Emotionally as well. I quote
"There will be days of rejection and disappointment. Learn now about your emotional limits, and learn how to control your emotions under the [difficult] circumstances you will face as [members in life]. By doing this, you raise the bar to greater heights and, in effect, fortify yourself against emotional challenges during your [life]."
We should all be working on controlling our emotions. Take a look at Bro. Whitten. It is no secret that he recently lost his job. He has a new house and a large family to take care and yet here he is early on Sunday with his family in church. I walk through the door and that guy has a smile on his face, grabs my hand and asks me how MY day is and how I am doing. Here is a guy that is going through nothing more that what I would consider to be the most trying thing possible, and yet he is controlling his emotions. If it were me I would like to crawl up into a ball and cry in the corner and yet here he is extending his hand and asking me about my life. Wow....what an example of how well we should be able to control ourselves and our emotions. What an example to follow. What an example of faith!
The Lord is willing to help us in every aspect of our lives if we let him and he will teach us even when we think we cannot go any further. I had an experience this week that I would like to relate. To give a little background on the experience I will tell you that I have been stuck in a rut for some time. I think all of us at some point go through the motions of growing up, getting baptized, make it through teenage years, go on a mission, go to college, get married, have kids, then we all get into the "Endure to the end" mode of life. I have been stuck there for months so I thought it was time to sacrifice something and start working out. I started this because I wanted to make a change and be like Bro. Tillotson....that guy is built like a rock. I was talking to him about paintball or something and gave him a punch in the arm and broke a finger...everyone wants to be built like him.
I couldn't find time during my day to go to the gym or work out so I decided to sacrifice some sleep. I work at 6 in the morning which meant that I was up at 4:45 and out of the house so I could be to work on time. I was able to convince a couple friends to get up early and work out with me in the morning before work, which meant that we had to get up an hour earlier. So now I get up at 3:50 in the morning and I am at the gym at 5 and then to work at 6.
I pause here to say that this is insanity and I am not suggesting this to anyone, in fact I tried to talk Justin out of it for a week but he is going and liking it too.
So I get up at 3:50 and I am at the gym at 5 and I love it. We also take our lunch break and go swimming. So we get the weight training in the morning and cardio in the afternoon. If you talk to Sister Holtz in the Ward, she will tell you about this euphoric high you get when you run. I have talked to others who say the same thing about this "runners high"...I thought they were all a bunch of liars. Running hurts...I don't think you should be running unless chased by a dog or a large man with a weapon.....that is it.....end of list.
But this bunch of liars all maintain that there is this point you reach when you push through the pain and you can focus and feel great. Well this week in my workout, I got to the swimming part at lunch and this friend I have was making me change up the routine a bit where I do an easy set, then a harder set than a hard set and then really push it past where I think I can go....The sets were killing me.
I was on the last part of the second set and my body started knocking on my head (knock on the podium) Knock knock knock...
Body: "Hey up there....this is starting to hurt, you better slow it down or we will quit on you and you will drown."
Me: "No, you can to a little more."
...Knock knock knock
Body: "Hey! Maybe you didn't hear us...we are going to quit and then you will fall to the bottom of the pool and you will DIE!....Did you hear us that time DIE!"
Me: "No, no I can go just a little more"
Body: "WE ARE NOT KIDDING! THIS HURTS AND WE SUGGEST YOU STOP IT RIGHT NOW"
Me: "SHUT UP! I AM GOING TO BEAT YOU"
Then I just poured it on as hard as I could and suddenly I felt my muscles get hot, white hot and my lungs filled with air and although I was in the water I could feel my body sweating. I suddenly felt this exuberant burst of energy and I no longer hurt and felt great and had energy enough and then some. I amped up the workout even more and fished the next set with no pain and power to spare. I took my pulse and it was over 200 and I thought "well I need to calm down a bit now...." but I wanted to call my boss at work and tell him that I was done for the day, I was going to run home.
That is like the spirit in some ways, the Lord asks us to do just a little more, push it a little harder and just when we think there is nothing left, SURPRISE we get this burst that pushes us through. I was whining when I was in pain and reflecting on that experience reminded me of Section 122 in the Doctrine & Covenants. In this section Joseph had been doing some whining of his own. Not that he wasn't justified, but they had been in Liberty Jail for quite some time at this point and the Saints had been through some really rough times...and this is what the Lord said to Joseph:
1 The ends of the earth shall inquire after thyname, and fools shall have thee in derision, and hell shall rage against thee;
I repeat...know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good. We are going to suffer in this life, its part of the test. We are living in the worst times the world has ever seen. Satan is well organized, well financed and has all the glitz and glamorous things that money can buy and the beautiful people that everyone wants to be like working for him. The Lord has us. If the Lord is willing to put his faith and trust in us, the weak and simple, I think that says much about who we are, what is expected of us and what he knows is possible from us.
Again, we live in the worst times the world has ever seen, and yet we also forget that we live in the best times the world has ever seen. The Spirit has never been so strong on the Earth as it is today. We have never had as many members as we have living today. We have such an opportunity for good in this world today. The history of the world has not had the access to scriptures as we have today. The Apostles of Jesus time didn't have what we have. They had the Old Testament but none of the Book of Mormon or any of the New Testament. Nephi had the Old Testament but not the New Testament or the Book of Mormon...not even the prophets of the Book of Mormon had what we have. We have living prophets, a quorum of 12, Stakes and Wards with priesthood authority vibrant and willing to lead, we are so blessed.
It is my testimony that Jesus lives, his Church is true, Joseph Smith was a prophet who saw what he saw and did what he did because he was inspired and lead by our Heavenly Father who loves us. If we follow what Elder Perry taught and "raise the bar" we can find new heights and abilities we never knew we had."
This is my testimony, and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ.....Amen
So that was my talk. I am sure I said a little more or less but that is the best I can recall what I said. I went about 20 min. I usually don't prepare much, just topics really and write those topics down in an outline format for me to follow. I thought it was one of the better talks I have given in recent times, so I thought I would share.
When he called me this morning, I asked if he had a topic that he wanted me to address and he said I could pick anything from the October General Conference and I immediately thought of Elder Perry's talk on raising the bar. He directs his remarks to the upcoming missionary force but I think anything he said can be applied to us as members. He starts by saying:
"The bar was raised by the leaders of the Church, and the minimum standard for participating in [any service] is absolute moral worthiness; physical health and strength; intellectual, social, and emotional development."
He then refered back to the beginning of his talk where he sites a story about high-jumping and his son.
"In every high-jumping competition there is a minimum height at which the competition starts. The high jumper cannot ask to start at a lower height. In the same way, you should not expect the standards to be lowered to allow you to serve [faithfully]. If you want to [please the Lord], you must be able to clear the minimum standards."
He continues...
"But once you reach those minimum standards, shouldn’t you try to keep raising the bar? I ask you the same question... If you don’t raise the bar, how will you ever know your potential?” (Elder L. Tom Perry - Raising the Bar, October General Conference 2007, Priesthood session)
I submit to you that it is impossible to satisfy the Lord until you are just like him. As that is his goal to make you like him he will not be satisfied until the journey is through. That is not to say, he cannot be pleased. I think the Lord is easily pleased and is always looking for ways to be happy with our progress, however, he will always require a little more effort, to go a little further, push ourselves a little harder every day. This teaches us and helps us to grow.
Elder Perry goes on to give some ways in which the Aaronic Priesthood should be preparing for a mission, however, I think each of these can be applied in our lives.
He talks about improving your physical strength, this can be following the Word of Wisdom, not just making sure we steer clear of the 'don'ts' but keeping the 'do's' as well. Making sure we get some physical exercise and keep ourselves fit and healthy.
He talks about making sure we are taking care of ourselves with our physical appearance staying clean cut, always presenting ourselves well, having good hygiene and taking the time to make yourself look good and appropriate.
He wants us to improve intellectually by taking online courses of study, doing some type of continuing education...pick a subject and learn something about it. President Hinckley was always doing this....I quote from a column by Doug Robinson that was printed in the Deseret News on Tuesday, Jan 29, 2008. He was talking about the recent passing of President Hinckley and if he had the opportunity for the "last interview" what he would ask. Here is one of the questions he would ask:
"DID HE GET TO TAKE IT WITH HIM? The faithful believe the only thing you take with you on the trip to the next life is your intelligence. In President Hinckley's case, he probably had to pack an extra bag. He was intelligent, well read and knowledgeable about many things. Even in his old age, he was brimming with ideas, popping up in the morning and saying, "I was up in the night. I've got this idea. I've been thinking about this. It might work."
Once, during a trip to Wyoming, Evelyn began listing books one by one, pausing after each to ask if he had read it. "He'd read all of them," she says. "And then when we got to Wyoming, the local stake president was a pilot and President Hinckley talked to him knowledgeably about aviation, and then there was a miner he met there and he talked to him about that, and then there was a rancher and he knew a lot about that. I've never known a man who was so intelligent.
"He seemed to remember everything he had ever read."
He quoted often from books, whether it was a biography on Florence Nightingale or Madam Curie or a poem by Robert Frost.
It showed in the articulate, often poetic way in which he wrote and spoke. "I'm in my 97th year now," he said last May. "The wind is blowing and I feel like the last leaf on the tree." That was typical of how he often expressed himself.
The wellspring of all this was a desire simply to learn. "I want to read more. There is so much I want to learn, and I just don't have the time," he once lamented. We should all turn off our TVs and be so motivated. It was how he found time to raise a family, build a house with his own hands, write best-sellers, oversee a church's growth from 8 million to 13 million, visit 160 nations, build temples and conduct the daily business of a worldwide church." (Doug Robinson, Deseret News, Tuesday, Jan 29th, 2008 http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695248205,00.html)How do you beat that? President Hinckley, arguably one of the busiest people on the Earth, finds time to do those things, we should try to do the same. I like what Mr. Robinson said about "We should all turn off our TVs and be so motivated." I can't remember the talk but I believe it was in a recent conference address that one of the Apostles said "We are not asking you to do more, but we are asking you to take a look at your life and cut something out and replace it with something spiritual." I apologize for not knowing the source...I hate doing that, but the point is valid. What could you trim out of your life that would allow for something to replace that will be for your good?
This gospel is one of sacrifice. I have a list of items that we do every day that should be reviewed often to see what can be cut:
TV
TiVo
Online Blogging - this is a big one in our home
Txt Messaging
IPods
Internet
Shopping
Girls (or Guys) night out
Pleasure reading
cell phone
The hours spent on these are enormous. I am not asking you to cut all, or even some of these out of your life, but review them and decide what can be reduced. How many of us would read the scriptures, but we want to watch our favorite TV show first....
or
How many of us have to sit down and watch more TV because the TiVo is running out of space and we need to free up some time to record all the shows we watch. If you are watching 6 TV shows a week, maybe cut one or two out and read the scriptures with your family.
Speaking of sacrifice, with the recent flooding we all have had to sacrifice some convenience while the Sweetwater road was closed due to the flooding and how many of us complained about that. How many of us complain that church is 15 min away. How many of us don't want to go to church today because its snowing, or its raining, or the wind was blowing or "I would love to go to church today but it conflicts with the Superbowl." I suggest you TiVo the game or record it on your ancient VCR player and watch it later....or (GASP) not even at all.
How many of us would go to the Temple...but its 30 min away, and it takes a lot of gas and I can't find a sitter...
Or how many of us would start our food storage, but costs too much and takes up too much room and it's inconvenient or takes up too much time...
Or with our callings, "yeah...I know I should be better at [fill in the blank calling] but its hard for me," or "I don't like my calling" or "I won't say no to the calling but don't plan on me doing it well"...
Or with service projects for the Ward. It seems to be an "I don't want to do it" or "It's someone else's turn....I did it last time."
This is a Church and Gospel of Sacrifice, if we are not willing to sacrifice for what is good then we will not be fit for the kingdom.
Going back to Elder Perry's talk he says we should be preparing Emotionally as well. I quote
"There will be days of rejection and disappointment. Learn now about your emotional limits, and learn how to control your emotions under the [difficult] circumstances you will face as [members in life]. By doing this, you raise the bar to greater heights and, in effect, fortify yourself against emotional challenges during your [life]."
We should all be working on controlling our emotions. Take a look at Bro. Whitten. It is no secret that he recently lost his job. He has a new house and a large family to take care and yet here he is early on Sunday with his family in church. I walk through the door and that guy has a smile on his face, grabs my hand and asks me how MY day is and how I am doing. Here is a guy that is going through nothing more that what I would consider to be the most trying thing possible, and yet he is controlling his emotions. If it were me I would like to crawl up into a ball and cry in the corner and yet here he is extending his hand and asking me about my life. Wow....what an example of how well we should be able to control ourselves and our emotions. What an example to follow. What an example of faith!
The Lord is willing to help us in every aspect of our lives if we let him and he will teach us even when we think we cannot go any further. I had an experience this week that I would like to relate. To give a little background on the experience I will tell you that I have been stuck in a rut for some time. I think all of us at some point go through the motions of growing up, getting baptized, make it through teenage years, go on a mission, go to college, get married, have kids, then we all get into the "Endure to the end" mode of life. I have been stuck there for months so I thought it was time to sacrifice something and start working out. I started this because I wanted to make a change and be like Bro. Tillotson....that guy is built like a rock. I was talking to him about paintball or something and gave him a punch in the arm and broke a finger...everyone wants to be built like him.
I couldn't find time during my day to go to the gym or work out so I decided to sacrifice some sleep. I work at 6 in the morning which meant that I was up at 4:45 and out of the house so I could be to work on time. I was able to convince a couple friends to get up early and work out with me in the morning before work, which meant that we had to get up an hour earlier. So now I get up at 3:50 in the morning and I am at the gym at 5 and then to work at 6.
I pause here to say that this is insanity and I am not suggesting this to anyone, in fact I tried to talk Justin out of it for a week but he is going and liking it too.
So I get up at 3:50 and I am at the gym at 5 and I love it. We also take our lunch break and go swimming. So we get the weight training in the morning and cardio in the afternoon. If you talk to Sister Holtz in the Ward, she will tell you about this euphoric high you get when you run. I have talked to others who say the same thing about this "runners high"...I thought they were all a bunch of liars. Running hurts...I don't think you should be running unless chased by a dog or a large man with a weapon.....that is it.....end of list.
But this bunch of liars all maintain that there is this point you reach when you push through the pain and you can focus and feel great. Well this week in my workout, I got to the swimming part at lunch and this friend I have was making me change up the routine a bit where I do an easy set, then a harder set than a hard set and then really push it past where I think I can go....The sets were killing me.
I was on the last part of the second set and my body started knocking on my head (knock on the podium) Knock knock knock...
Body: "Hey up there....this is starting to hurt, you better slow it down or we will quit on you and you will drown."
Me: "No, you can to a little more."
...Knock knock knock
Body: "Hey! Maybe you didn't hear us...we are going to quit and then you will fall to the bottom of the pool and you will DIE!....Did you hear us that time DIE!"
Me: "No, no I can go just a little more"
Body: "WE ARE NOT KIDDING! THIS HURTS AND WE SUGGEST YOU STOP IT RIGHT NOW"
Me: "SHUT UP! I AM GOING TO BEAT YOU"
Then I just poured it on as hard as I could and suddenly I felt my muscles get hot, white hot and my lungs filled with air and although I was in the water I could feel my body sweating. I suddenly felt this exuberant burst of energy and I no longer hurt and felt great and had energy enough and then some. I amped up the workout even more and fished the next set with no pain and power to spare. I took my pulse and it was over 200 and I thought "well I need to calm down a bit now...." but I wanted to call my boss at work and tell him that I was done for the day, I was going to run home.
That is like the spirit in some ways, the Lord asks us to do just a little more, push it a little harder and just when we think there is nothing left, SURPRISE we get this burst that pushes us through. I was whining when I was in pain and reflecting on that experience reminded me of Section 122 in the Doctrine & Covenants. In this section Joseph had been doing some whining of his own. Not that he wasn't justified, but they had been in Liberty Jail for quite some time at this point and the Saints had been through some really rough times...and this is what the Lord said to Joseph:
1 The ends of the earth shall inquire after thyname, and fools shall have thee in derision, and hell shall rage against thee;
2 While the pure in heart, and the wise, and the noble, and the virtuous, shall seek counsel, and authority, and blessings constantly from under thy hand.
4 And although their influence shall cast thee into trouble, and into bars and walls, thou shalt be had in honor; and but for a small moment and thy voice shall be more terrible in the midst of thine enemies than the fierce lion, because of thy righteousness; and thy God shall stand by thee forever and ever.
5 If thou art called to pass through tribulation; if thou art in perils among false brethren; if thou art in perils among robbers; if thou art in perils by land or by sea;
6 If thou art accused with all manner of false accusations; if thine enemies fall upon thee; if they tear thee from the society of thy father and mother and brethren and sisters; and if with a drawn sword thine enemies tear thee from the bosom of thy wife, and of thine offspring, and thine elder son, although but six years of age, shall cling to thy garments, and shall say, My father, my father, why can’t you stay with us? O, my father, what are the men going to do with you? and if then he shall be thrust from thee by the sword, and thou be dragged to prison, and thine enemies prowl around thee like wolves for the blood of the lamb;
7 And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.
9 Therefore, hold on thy way, and the priesthood shall remain with thee; for their bounds are set, they cannot pass. Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever.
I repeat...know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good. We are going to suffer in this life, its part of the test. We are living in the worst times the world has ever seen. Satan is well organized, well financed and has all the glitz and glamorous things that money can buy and the beautiful people that everyone wants to be like working for him. The Lord has us. If the Lord is willing to put his faith and trust in us, the weak and simple, I think that says much about who we are, what is expected of us and what he knows is possible from us.
Again, we live in the worst times the world has ever seen, and yet we also forget that we live in the best times the world has ever seen. The Spirit has never been so strong on the Earth as it is today. We have never had as many members as we have living today. We have such an opportunity for good in this world today. The history of the world has not had the access to scriptures as we have today. The Apostles of Jesus time didn't have what we have. They had the Old Testament but none of the Book of Mormon or any of the New Testament. Nephi had the Old Testament but not the New Testament or the Book of Mormon...not even the prophets of the Book of Mormon had what we have. We have living prophets, a quorum of 12, Stakes and Wards with priesthood authority vibrant and willing to lead, we are so blessed.
It is my testimony that Jesus lives, his Church is true, Joseph Smith was a prophet who saw what he saw and did what he did because he was inspired and lead by our Heavenly Father who loves us. If we follow what Elder Perry taught and "raise the bar" we can find new heights and abilities we never knew we had."
This is my testimony, and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ.....Amen
So that was my talk. I am sure I said a little more or less but that is the best I can recall what I said. I went about 20 min. I usually don't prepare much, just topics really and write those topics down in an outline format for me to follow. I thought it was one of the better talks I have given in recent times, so I thought I would share.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Working out
So for the last month or so a few friends from the neighborhood and I have been working out in the morning before work....which means we get up at 3:50 a.m. (yes...you read that right, in the A.M.) We get to the gym by 5, work out for 45 min and then off to work at 6. We generally lift weights in the morning then swim in the afternoon for a good cardio burn. It has been working out great. I usually shower before I leave in the morning so I can wake up before I leave, and unless I work up a huge sweat lifting, I don't need to shower until the afternoon cardio swim.
Today I worked especially hard and needed to shower.
I will pause here to interject a running joke of mine that I spend more naked time with 'The Guys' than I do with my own wife....a fact of which I am not very excited about. It's not really true but I give Catey a hard time about it anyhow....
So I am in the shower after a hard work out and I turn to my friend James and ask to borrow his soap. He handed me a soapy ball of fur. (I will interject here that my friend is about 6'4" 250 lbs. and hairy. I am pretty sure if you shaved him he would weigh about 230lbs....in short it's like showering near a Wookie) Needless to say the ball of fur handed to me was less than exciting. So I am trying to rub my finger on parts of the fur-ball that are not covered in hair to get enough soap with which to wash....gross.
Why I shared that I don't know but most of you got a laugh out of that.
I plan to share my results when I am done working out. For now I will just say, I feel great and want to keep going.
The Gripe #1 - Computer Illiterate
uhhhhhhh ok. So I am only going to apologize for this once...you are on my blog so you are going to have to wade through a section that I will create from time to time called "The Gripe". I have one today and since most of you know me you know that I am a passionate person that gets worked up on issues and likes to vent....I mean no malice but I do get worked up.
You have been warned.
So, having said that and giving you the warning....here is what bugs me today... I work for a software company which means I asssist folks over the phone when they have issues....(go figure). You would think that if you are making $40-$60K a year using computer software you would know how to USE THE FREAKING COMPUTER OR INTERNET!!! Holy crud it is frustrating when I am talking to someone who makes more money than I do and yet the following conversation takes place:
Me: "It looks like some of your settings are off, if you could please right click on your screen and you should see a small menu, then choose properties..."
Person: "Nothing happens."
Me: "Nothing happens? You should see a small menu..."
Person: "Nope"
Me: "Can you explain to me what it is that you are doing?"
Person: "You asked me to right click on the screen.....I have my mouse on the right side of the screen and I am clicking and nothing is happening, I have clicked like 50 times."
Me: "Can you look at your mouse for me.."
Person: "Sure...."
Me: "Great, do you see two buttons on the mouse?"
Person: "Yeah but I only use one of them.."
Me: "Could you use the button on the right just this once for me?"
Person: "Are you sure, I never use it."
Me: "I am sure....go ahead."
Person: "Hey! A little menu popped up....that's a neat trick, I am so glad I called you...boy, I guess you learn something new every day..."
This is usually the part when I turn red, put my head in my hands and are tempted to tell them to box up the computer and take it back because they are too stupid to use a computer or make that much money. I have had similar issues with trying to get people to get on the Internet.
Me: "Could you open Internet Explorer for me."
Person: "What's that?"
Me: "Its the application that you use to browse the Internet"
Person: "Oh the little blue world....I like that one, I use it to find clothes on Ebay.."
Me: "Ugh"
Seriously a bit of advice.......Computers are not going away, please learn how to use them, teach your children to use them, learn to type, and above all if you are calling technical support, trust them a little, its the most fun part of our job when people call us for help and then refuse to let us help them and tell us we are wrong and can't help them.
....and thus the beginning of "The Gripe"
You have been warned.
So, having said that and giving you the warning....here is what bugs me today... I work for a software company which means I asssist folks over the phone when they have issues....(go figure). You would think that if you are making $40-$60K a year using computer software you would know how to USE THE FREAKING COMPUTER OR INTERNET!!! Holy crud it is frustrating when I am talking to someone who makes more money than I do and yet the following conversation takes place:
Me: "It looks like some of your settings are off, if you could please right click on your screen and you should see a small menu, then choose properties..."
Person: "Nothing happens."
Me: "Nothing happens? You should see a small menu..."
Person: "Nope"
Me: "Can you explain to me what it is that you are doing?"
Person: "You asked me to right click on the screen.....I have my mouse on the right side of the screen and I am clicking and nothing is happening, I have clicked like 50 times."
Me: "Can you look at your mouse for me.."
Person: "Sure...."
Me: "Great, do you see two buttons on the mouse?"
Person: "Yeah but I only use one of them.."
Me: "Could you use the button on the right just this once for me?"
Person: "Are you sure, I never use it."
Me: "I am sure....go ahead."
Person: "Hey! A little menu popped up....that's a neat trick, I am so glad I called you...boy, I guess you learn something new every day..."
This is usually the part when I turn red, put my head in my hands and are tempted to tell them to box up the computer and take it back because they are too stupid to use a computer or make that much money. I have had similar issues with trying to get people to get on the Internet.
Me: "Could you open Internet Explorer for me."
Person: "What's that?"
Me: "Its the application that you use to browse the Internet"
Person: "Oh the little blue world....I like that one, I use it to find clothes on Ebay.."
Me: "Ugh"
Seriously a bit of advice.......Computers are not going away, please learn how to use them, teach your children to use them, learn to type, and above all if you are calling technical support, trust them a little, its the most fun part of our job when people call us for help and then refuse to let us help them and tell us we are wrong and can't help them.
....and thus the beginning of "The Gripe"
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
The First Thing
I guess the first thing I should write about is the fact that Catey and I are having a little girl....with 6 kids (two girls and four boys) it was about time to see another girl. Everyone wanted us to have a girl which insured me that this would be a boy for sure....but yesterday Catey and I were at the ultrasound and there she was missing all male parts. Catey teared up when the dude said it was a girl, it was sweet. On the way out of the office she patted me on the back and with 'mommy voice' said "YEA.....you did it"...like I just went potty for the first time by myself. I hadn't gone potty but I felt relieved just the same....kind of a serendipidous feeling...yeah go look that one up.
We are so blessed....that is to say that I am so blessed. I could not have designed a wife like Catey. If God gave me hundreds of hours or years to think up whatever I wanted in a wife from personalilty, looks, voice, eyes, interests..everything, I would have gingerly handed him the paper that I have written and scribbled on with what I wanted....he would have taken that piece of paper crumpled it up and put it in his pocket and said "yeah, that's great...how about I just give you her instead..." She is more than I thought I would ever be able to date once let alone marry her.
I feel the same about my kids. I get frustrated and yell (I am trying to get better) but when all the dust settles I wouldn't trade any of my kids for anything. I have some of the most spirited kids in the world. Malia, Taylor, Alaina, Jacob, Dallin, Lincoln and (?baby girl?) all whom have their own likes, dislikes and personalities which endear them to me every day. Each day I get home and they are running across the yard or house to hug me while knocking me over yelling "DADDYYYYYYY"....It's nice. Soon that will all go away, and thus the title of the blog....life moves pretty fast, before I know it that will all change.
I don't know what (if anything) I will write...I only started this because I should be keeping a journal and have stopped and started and stopped and started over and over....maybe this will help me keep up so that my wife and kids do know that I think about them every day....because I do, and miss them every day I have to go to work.
We are so blessed....that is to say that I am so blessed. I could not have designed a wife like Catey. If God gave me hundreds of hours or years to think up whatever I wanted in a wife from personalilty, looks, voice, eyes, interests..everything, I would have gingerly handed him the paper that I have written and scribbled on with what I wanted....he would have taken that piece of paper crumpled it up and put it in his pocket and said "yeah, that's great...how about I just give you her instead..." She is more than I thought I would ever be able to date once let alone marry her.
I feel the same about my kids. I get frustrated and yell (I am trying to get better) but when all the dust settles I wouldn't trade any of my kids for anything. I have some of the most spirited kids in the world. Malia, Taylor, Alaina, Jacob, Dallin, Lincoln and (?baby girl?) all whom have their own likes, dislikes and personalities which endear them to me every day. Each day I get home and they are running across the yard or house to hug me while knocking me over yelling "DADDYYYYYYY"....It's nice. Soon that will all go away, and thus the title of the blog....life moves pretty fast, before I know it that will all change.
I don't know what (if anything) I will write...I only started this because I should be keeping a journal and have stopped and started and stopped and started over and over....maybe this will help me keep up so that my wife and kids do know that I think about them every day....because I do, and miss them every day I have to go to work.
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