Omega Thoughts

The Flour Bin

2010-08-13T22:03:00.000-07:00

Going up as a child we were quite poor. Partially because my father owned his own saw mill. He had a partner that would help him haul logs from the woods and then saw them into lumber. Winters were especially hard because it was difficult haul logs from the woods because of the snow. Lumber sales were also down, because people didn’t do much building in the winter.
Being poor with seven children, my mom made a lot of bread. She had a flour bin that would hold at least a hundred pound sack of flour. As a child, I loved watching her make bread. She would get out a very large bread bowl. She would dip her large flour sifter into the bin several times in order to fill the large bowl with flour. She would then add warm water mixed with yeast, salt, sugar and other things. She would mix and kneed, wait for it to raise the kneed it again. Then she would repeat the process a couple times. During this weekly ritual she would make a dozen or so loaves of bread. Nothing was better than butter and honey on homemade bread, right out of the oven.
My father had been sick for some time and couldn’t work much, so there wasn’t much money. On my oldest brother 15th birthday my father passed away, leaving my mother with no money and seven children to feed.
After my father’s death, I remember watching my mother make bread as usual. I remember her opening the flower bin and it being nearly empty. I remember thinking there was hardly enough flour to fill the large sifter let alone make bread. But somehow she managed to scrape out enough flour to make her usual dozen or so loaves of bread for the week.
I wasn’t home at the time, but the week she baked another dozen loaves of bread again. I remember looking in the flower bin, when no one was looking thinking that someone must have bought her flour. But it was as empty as before.
The next week, I made extra effort to be home when she made bread. Again there was hardly any flour in the bin. I knew that there was not going to be enough flour, but somehow she managed to make her normal dozen or so loaves of bread. I remember wondering how she did it.
I think she made a couple more batches of bread, before going to the store and buying flour. I hadn’t thought much about the experience, until a couple years ago. We were at a family reunion and were telling stories from our childhood. My mother told the story that after my father had died; the flour bin didn’t go empty, until social security checks started coming in.

14 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth.

(Old Testament | 1 Kings 17:14)

Christmas Ducks

2009-12-28T18:47:00.000-08:00

All I got my wife for Christmas were ducks. I wasn’t too surprised when she said that was all she wanted. She always says something like that. I never believe her, so I always try to get her something big, something that will totally impress her. But it seems to never work. Gifts really aren’t her thing.
We don’t have a place for ducks in our back yard. Even if we did the HOA wouldn’t go for it. I’m sure the quacking would get us lots of those nasty letters. Besides, who wants’ to clean up duck poop; dog poop is bad enough. So she didn’t actually get the ducks. The ducks went to some under privileged family in some underdeveloped country. My wife likes the charitable organization, Heifer International (http://www.heifer.org). They provide livestock, training, and a “pass it along” program to help families become self sufficient.
I wasn’t going to get her just ducks this year. But I attended a (Mormon) Christmas devotional (http://www.lds.org/library/display/0,4945,8921-1-5016-2,00.html) and listened to President Monson speak and thought, “If all she wants for Christmas is something for others, why not?” There are a lot of people who are doing without this Christmas. Why should we spend a lot of money on each other while others are suffering? So this year our Christmas money went to helping others. Her gift to me was a scrapbook page listing some of the gifts and service we had given to others. But isn’t that what Christmas is supposed to be all about?
This and being able to spend time with my family made this a great Christmas. My wife thinks I gave the best gift of all this year. Lucky me. Next year she wants a water buffalo.

Seeker of truth

2009-11-08T19:18:00.000-08:00

My neighbor was put in a rest home to die. I felt that I needed to go visit him, and had some impressions as to what to say to him. We had often visited in the in the front yard. We hadn’t been close, but I think he considered me a friend. It is hard to go visit someone that knows they are dying. What do you say to comfort them?

During the visit, it was very clear that he was very scared of death. He had never been very religious, but knew that I was and was looking for some form of comfort. I assured him that death wasn’t the end. I explained some of my experiences after my fathers passing, when I felt his presence, which gave me the assurance that death wasn’t the end.

I then explained that the things that were important here weren’t going to be important on the other side. That the things that would be important on the other side would be Light and Truth, which he would need to seek it. I explained that when he died, he would have loved ones that had already died come to meet him.

I was nervous about what he would think about what I was telling him but he seamed to find comfort in it. He then said that he believed me because he had been very sick once and his mother who had died earlier had come to him.

I have often reflected back on that experience, the conversation and the feeling that was there. But is finding light and truth only important after we die?

We live in a world where truth is hard to find. Everyone is selfishly seeking their own interest and beliefs, bending the truth to confirm to their own desires. It’s sad when people use deceptions to manipulate others, the consequences are seldom good. I don’t want to hear someone’s opinion; I want to know the truth.

I love science, because of the truths it contains. But I find myself very frustrated with science being used for politics, or as a basis to either prove or disprove personal beliefs. I would often get frustrated in collage when the professor would go on about theories based on some claimed scientific finding. I would say to myself, “Just give me the scientific facts, if I want a theory, I will come up with it myself”. I mostly thought this when the theory would conflict with logic or it just didn’t feel true.

I love the word of God because it is filled with truth. In it, is a truth that builds upon truth, so by studying it you can gain a greater and greater level of truth.

I love the spirit of Truth. That by it (through studying and pondering) you can know the truth; past, present, or future. That by that spirit you can know often know of things to come, and be guided through life. By it I have often known thing that were going to happen, long before they happened. But the spirit of truth cannot teach truths we are not willing to hear, learn and understand.

The Chainsaw

2009-09-27T19:35:00.001-07:00

I was sitting on the floor working on homework when someone knocked on the front door. My mother answered the door. It was someone selling tickets for a fund raiser they were having in a neighboring town about 15 miles away. My mother told him that she couldn’t afford to buy a ticket. He seemed desperate to sell her one, but she was unwilling to buy one.

I had one dollar in my pocket and was tempted to buy a ticket, mostly because he seamed so desperate to sell them. The other reason was one of the prizes was a chainsaw. We needed to get wood for the winter, so we really needed a chainsaw. My father had passed away the year before and all the chainsaws he owned went with his business partner. I knew wood was our only means of keeping warm through the cold winters.

I remember my mothers concerned conversations with my older brother about what to do for wood and how to get it without a chainsaw. She had asked some of the neighbors about borrowing their saws, but they were reluctant. Perhaps for concern that only her young boys would be running it. They all talked about helping us, but no one seemed to have time.

I was just about to buy a ticket, when he said “OK” and left. I thought, it was just as well, “we probably wouldn’t win and why waste the only dollar I had”. I knew what my mother didn’t yet know what to do for winter wood. Perhaps she truly didn’t have any money, or like me thought we had no chance of winning and didn’t want to waste what little money she had.

Some time later she got a phone call telling her that she had won the chainsaw. To which she replied “There must be a mistake, we didn’t buy a ticket”. The man replied “All I know is that I have a ticket here with your name on it”.

We never found out how they got a ticket with my mothers name on it, or how it ended up being the one drawn. But we desperately need the saw. It allowed us to get the necessary wood we needed for the winter, so my mother could keep her seven children warm. Perhaps it was God’s way of rewarding us for the service my dad had given before he died, see http://omegathoughts.blogspot.com/2008/12/white-christmas.html.

Cow Power (because Jo asked for it.)

2009-09-13T16:23:00.000-07:00

When I was about 6 or 7, I was wandering through the back yard when I came upon my older brother. Who was in the process of using bailing wire to tie the wagon to the milk cow’s tail.

For the non hick people, my older brother would milk the cow night and morning. So she was been used to him doing unusual things to her, though I couldn’t understand her standing there and allowing him to do this. Also bailing wire is one of the greatest inventions on earth. Initial purpose is to keep bails of hay together, but a country hick can find a thousand uses for it. Could fix most anything with it, well it would usually hold for a little while anyway. So it was perfect for attaching the wagon to the cow’s tail.

Back to the story. So while wondering through the back yard I came across my brother in the process of attaching the wagon to the cows’ tail. I thought to myself “this could be entertaining, I should stay and watch”! I tried to stay my distance out of direct eyesight of my brother. I only wanted to be entertained and not be involved in any way.

It didn’t work my brother noticed me and said “George get in the wagon, and I’ll chase the cow”. Well, I may be a dumb little hick kid, but I’m not stupid, there was no way I was going to get in that wagon. He said “OK then, I’ll get in the wagon and you chase the cow”. To me that was a good idea, involvement I would risk.

So he got in the wagon. I don’t understand why cows ignore little kids jumping up and down and hollering at them. She just stood their chewing her cud. He said “see she is not going anywhere, you get in the wagon and I will chase her”. She really wasn’t going anywhere, so I got in the wagon.

My brother started hollering at her. She took a few steeps, that was enough for me I was ready to get out. But we had a cow dog. He was always very eager to help chase the cows when ever the opportunity arose. Just as I was about to get out, I heard the dog barking at the cow. And she took off running, with me still in the wagon.

All I could do is hold on and scream as though my life was about to end. I wasn’t sure it wasn’t going to. This excited the dog even more who started biting the cows heals. This made the cow run faster and me scream louder. Did the dog really think that, making the cow run faster was going to save me?

To make matters worse the cow was headed for the plowed section of the pasture. When you plow a field it leaves large ripples in the field. Each ripple was a little ramp to make me and the wagon become airborne, coming down just in time to become airborne by the next ripple. This added a whole new challenge to holding on to the wagon, screaming and keeping it from tipping over. I’m sure it also added some discomfort to the cow, not that I cared about the cow.

To my salvation my mother heard my screams. She looked out the kitchen window to see her son flying through the plowed field, in the little red wagon, behind the cow, screaming his head off. She called for my dad, who stepped out the back door and whistled for the dog. The dog immediately stopped chasing the cow, and come to my dads call. The cow immediately then stopped, probably now tired of pulling a screaming kid in a wagon, by her tail.

Not willing to chance any more of this experience, I jumped out of the wagon as fast as I could and headed for the house as fast as I could. My dad was walking out to where my brother was. My only comfort from the horrible humiliating ordeal, was knowing that my brother was going to get in big trouble.

When I got to where my dad and brother were, I realized that they were both laughing. This was horrible, I wanted some sort of vengeance on my brother, and I wasn’t getting it. Desperate of some sort of vengeance, I turned and gave the cow a dirty look. This made them both laugh even harder.

I had only wanted to be entertained, not be the entertainment.

New Grandson

2009-08-31T21:20:00.000-07:00

I have a new grandson. I’m very excited. My son looks good in Med scrubs, he will make a good Doctor.

Mice

2009-08-30T16:58:00.000-07:00

Because Jamie asked for a farm story!

My mother has this thing with mice. We had lots of them in the grainery, as a kid I would go and find the baby mice there. They were tiny and cute, especially the little pink ones with no hair. I would always take them in to the house because I knew they wanted to see My mother. They would look up and squeak and she would jump, dance and squeak (scream). I’m sure it was her way of communicating with them. This form of communication was too complex for a child to understand. She would quickly send me out the door with the mice. Not sure why she wanted to spend such little time with them.

On one another occasion she got up very early in the morning to go hunting. I think she was hunting neighbor’s dogs. She had been quite successful hunting in the past. Maybe she thought they were going to eat her mice. She clamed they were after her chickens. She was a very good shot. They claim that she could shoot pennies off a picket fence. I kept hoping she would win me a turkey at the annual turkey shoot, but she never competed. I think she was afraid of showing all the men up.

That morning the dogs got away but not before she had loaded a bullet in the gun. She came in the house and as she was walking through the kitchen one of her friendly mice saw her. Wanting to get closer to her the mouse ran up her leg. She got very excited about the mouse running up her leg. She started doing the jump, dance and scream thing. She got so excited with the dance that she lost her wits and pulled the trigger on the gun. Of course the gun went off and the bullet that was meant for a dog, shot a hole in the kitchen floor.

On another occasion I was in the bathroom doing what “regular” people do several times a day. While there one of my mother’s mice friends came up and started looking at me. I thought to myself “little mouse, it’s not me that you wanted to see, it’s my mother”. I didn’t want him to get discouraged and run away, before he had a chance to see my mother, so I carefully placed the toilet plunger over him. I then went and got my mother. I brought my mother in the bathroom. Thinking they would want privacy for their little communication ritual, I closed the door to the bathroom.

After closing the door I removed the toilet plunger from off the mouse. My mother immediately did her jump, dance and scream ritual. She jumped so high that she landed on the rim of the toilet. Little boys are supposed to put the lid up and I had. I was very impressed with my mother, up until this point I never realized that she could do her mouse dance on the rim of a toilet.

Several years later while driving through Utah I stopped at a truck stop for gas. While paying for gas I looked down and they had a box with a slide lid on it. When I slid the lid a fake mouse come out and hit my had. I said to the teller “I have to get this for my mother for Mother’s day”. She said “you wouldn’t”. I don’t think she understood how much my mother likes mice. I gave it to my mother and waited to see if she would do the jump, dance and scream thing with a fake mouse. She did. I went to the back bedroom and within a few minutes heard a knock on the door. It was her visiting teachers. She said “look what my son got me for Mother’s day”. I then head a scream, then someone say “what is it”? Then I heard another scream. I was so glad she was able to share her love for mice with others.

For her 75 birthday party I thought about bringing a mouse so the grandkids could learn how to do the jump, dance and scream thing. But I decided she was probably too old to jump and dance like she used to.

Talk on Zion

2009-08-09T22:24:00.000-07:00

After the stock market fell 777.7 points on the seventh jubilee, seven years after 9-11 and president Hinckley talk of Pharaoh’s dream of seven years of plenty and seven years of lean, I spent lot of time pondering our current state, and what was coming next. I began to realize that for Zion to be established, Babylon must fall. With this pondering, I wondered what I would tell family and friends if I had the opportunity.

The following conference Elder Christofferson gave a talk called “Come to Zion” in that talk he said exactly what I had been pondering and wished I could say. Ironically today I’ve been asked to speak on the “Gathering of Zion”. I will take much of my talk from the talk given by Elder Christofferson’s. He said.

Zion is both a place and a people. Zion was the name given to the ancient city of Enoch in the days before the Flood. “And it came to pass in his days, that he built a city that was called the City of Holiness, even Zion” (Moses 7:19). This Zion endured for some 365 years (see Moses 7:68). The scriptural record states, “And Enoch and all his people walked with God, and he dwelt in the midst of Zion; and it came to pass that Zion was not, for God received it up into his own bosom; and from thence went forth the saying, Zion is fled” (Moses 7:69). Later, Jerusalem and its temple were called Mount Zion, and the scriptures prophesy of a future New Jerusalem where Christ shall reign as “King of Zion,” when “for the space of a thousand years the earth shall rest” (Moses 7:53, 64).

The Lord called Enoch’s people Zion “because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them” (Moses 7:18). “For this is Zion—the pure in heart” (D&C 97:21

The Prophet Joseph Smith said: “The building up of Zion is a cause that has interested the people of God in every age; it is a theme upon which prophets, priests and kings have dwelt with peculiar delight; they have looked forward with joyful anticipation to the day in which we live; and fired with heavenly and joyful anticipations they have sung and written and prophesied of this our day; but they died without the sight; we are the favored people that God has made choice of to bring about the Latter-day glory.

The antithesis and antagonist of Zion is Babylon. It focuses on selfishness, for which it offers the world goods. Its worldliness, its worship of evil, and our captivity in it, make Babylon the symbol of decadent societies and spiritual bondage today as it was anciently.

They seek not the Lord to establish his righteousness, but every man walketh in his own way, and after the image of his own god, whose image is in the likeness of the world, and whose substance is that of an idol, which waxeth old and shall perish in Babylon, even Babylon the great, which shall fall.

(Doctrine and Covenants Section 1:16)

The Lord said to the members of His Church, “Go ye out of Babylon; gather ye out from among the nations, from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (D&C 133:7). He called for the elders of His Church to be sent forth across the world to accomplish this gathering, commencing an effort that continues in full vigor today.

And so today the Lord’s people are gathering “out from among the nations” as they gather into the congregations and stakes of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that are scattered throughout the nations. Nephi foresaw that these “dominions” would be small but that the Lord’s power would descend “upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, … who were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they [would be] armed with righteousness” (see 1 Nephi 14:12–14). The Lord calls upon us to be beacons of righteousness to guide those who seek the safety and blessings of Zion:

Joseph Smith sought to establish Zion in his day but was unsuccessful. Under the direction of the Prophet Joseph Smith, early members of the Church attempted to establish the center place of Zion in Missouri, but they did not qualify to build the holy city.

Why? Because he could not get the people to become a Zion people. In other words he could not get them to become pure in heart and they were greatly afflicted. The Lord said.
2 I, the Lord, have suffered the affliction to come upon them, wherewith they have been afflicted, in consequence of their transgressions;

(Doctrine and Covenants Section 101:2)

4 Therefore, they must needs be chastened and tried, even as Abraham, who was commanded to offer up his only son.
5 For all those who will not endure chastening, but deny me, cannot be sanctified.
It’s interesting that part of their chastening including traveling across a wilderness, rebuilding their lives, homes and temple. I’m sure this experience helped them be more united.
Because of there transgressions they had to endure chastening and trials. We must be willing to endure chastening. The hardships we may be called to endure will be worth it, if in the end we can become a Zion people. But if we cannot endure chastening and learn to love and care for one another, we must fall with Babylon.

If it is important for us to become a Zion people perhaps its important to consider why Zion has failed in the past. The Lord explained some of the reasons for their failure:

6 Behold, I say unto you, there were jarrings, and contentions, and envyings, and strifes, and lustful and covetous desires among them; therefore by these things they polluted their inheritances.

(Doctrine and Covenants Section 101:4 - 6)

“They have not learned to be obedient to the things which I required at their hands, but are full of all manner of evil, and do not impart of their substance, as becometh saints, to the poor and afflicted among them;
“And are not united according to the union required by the law of the celestial kingdom” (D&C 105:3–4).

Because of things they were denied the privilege of becoming a Zion people.

How close are we to that wrath? Elder Christofferson’s said.
Zion is Zion because of the character, attributes, and faithfulness of her citizens. Remember, “the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them” (Moses 7:18). If we would establish Zion in our homes, branches, wards, and stakes, we must rise to this standard. It will be necessary (1) to become unified in one heart and one mind; (2) to become, individually and collectively, a holy people; and (3) to care for the poor and needy with such effectiveness that we eliminate poverty among us. We cannot wait until Zion comes for these things to happen—Zion will come only as they happen.

I was attending a weeding in the temple and the worker asked “what is the fundamental unit of Zion?” Then he said “the family”. It made a lot of since. Zion must start with the family. Are our families Zion families?

While going through collage my wife did childcare in our home, to help keep us feed. She became what she referred to as a “motor mouth”. She would constantly praise each child for any good behavior. “Look how well John is playing, that is so nice of you to share, look Dan ate all his beans.” As soon as she would praise on kid, all the other kids would try to do the same, so she would praise them. I was amazed at how much more effective praising the good behavior was, at keeping peace and order, then harping on the negative. Positive reinforcement is also more effective at changing behavior than criticism.

My mother used to always say “if you don’t have anything good to say about someone, don’t say anything at all.”

We should ask ourselves if we have overcome were jarrings, and contentions, and envyings, and strifes, and lustful and covetous desires (see D&C 101:6). Are we individually and as a family ward and stake, free from strife and contention and united “according to the union required by the law of the celestial kingdom”?

And Zion cannot be built up unless it is by the principles of the law of the celestial kingdom; (Doctrine and Covenants Section 105:5)

I believe that all beings of a celestial order have pure love for all others, and if they cannot develop that kind of love, they will not be there.

This doesn’t mean you need to support wickedness. It is often difficult to judge between unconditional love and supporting wickedness. For if we truly loving someone we will not and cannot support their wickedness.

Many of us have been to the temple and made convents there. We are not to speak evil of the Lords anointed. If we were sealed in the temple and we speak evil of our spouse, are we not speaking evil of the Lords anointed.

I have few memories of my dad before he passed away. But I remember him standing around with a group men who were complaining about their wives. It was clear they wanted him to join in on the wife bashing. One turned to him directly asking a question, which would have required a negative comment about my mother. He refused to answer. His silence, silenced their wife bashing. His refusal to speak ill of my mother set a lasting impression on me, one that I have tried to follow in my life.

So why must we become a Zion people and what is the purpose of the “gathering of Zion”?
“And that the gathering together upon the land of Zion, and upon her stakes, may be for a defense, and for a refuge from the storm, and from wrath when it shall be poured out without mixture upon the whole earth” (D&C 115:5–6).

At this point we are not called to leave the physical Babylon but we are called to spiritually leave it. The day may come to physically leave Babylon, but if we haven’t spiritually left Babylon, then we may not be able to physically leave Babylon.

It is my prayer that as Babylon falls; we will be prepared in our heart and mind to establish Zion. Our very survival my well depend on it.

+ Testomony.

GeoThermoMass

2009-05-31T19:26:00.000-07:00

For years I have wanted to experiment with an idea of using the earth’s thermo mass capabilities as a means to reduce the heating and cooling demand of your home. So on Memorial Day weekend I decided I would dig up my back yard to experiment with the idea. Went to the hardware store and bought a bunch of pipe and tubing to put in the ground and some grounding rods to work as temperature conduits. I rented a mini excavator to dig a trench. My plan was to dig down about 9 ft deep (the temperature stays mostly constant below 12ft) and then sink grounding rods another 8. I was going to dig a 20 ft ditch and install 15 grounding rods. I estimated this would give me approximately one ton of cooling capacity.

So I put together a manifold of pipes and tubes (see picture). The manifold was to allow me different ways to test my theory. I rented a mini excavator and started digging. First problem, I hit caliche (dirt as hard as rock) at 4 feet and couldn’t go any deeper. The excavator would just scrape the dirt. I decided I had already made the manifold so I may as well put it in at 4 ft. Next I tried to pound the grounding rods with a 25 lb jack hammer. I could only get them about 2 ft into the soil. So I got an auger hooked it to a drill and could get down about two feet that way. So in all I was only able to sink the grounding rods about 4 feet. It was frustrating,

So I made a mess of my back yard. Spent a lot of money and couldn’t get it deep enough. I may still be able to get some information from it. I will have to see if it ends up saving me any money on my cooling bill. At least I tried to do one of my new year’s regulations.

April 2009

2009-05-10T20:01:00.000-07:00

Last month I helped my daughter move to Idaho. Her husband is going to school their. It was a great brake from the regular grind of work. They were able to find a county home to rent. It’s great their closest neighbor is about a half mile away. There are fruit trees, a garden spot and lots of cows.

I’m really a country hick and loved being on the farm. I would trade them houses if I could move my job their. It was nice to get away from the desk job and spend some time doing real physical work. They had a huge crab apple tree that needed trimming so the owner let us use his chain saw and trim it. We also pruned the fruit trees. It was especially nice to be able to spend some time working with my son in-law and getting to know him better.

My daughter in-law also went with her daughter. It was good to be able to spend some time with them, my daughter and her daughter. I’m truly blessed to have such great children, son and daughter in-law and grand daughters. They don’t come any better, and it’s not that I’m bias. They and my wife are truly the greatest blessing in my life.

On our way up my son in-law and had the privilege of attending the LDS general priesthood session (A semi-annual meeting for men 12 and up) in the new conference center in Salt Lake City. This is the first time I have had the privilege of being in the LDS conference center. I was impressed by its size and structure, but I was more impressed to be in the same room with Prophets and Apostles. To hear them speak for our time, the things that are coming, and receive their advice how we should live our lives and prepare for the future.

It was also a privilege to be a building with 21,333 other good men. Not that any of us are perfect, but to be with that many other men who were listing and seeking to improve their lives. To think that there are also thousands more gathered in chapels throughout the world listing to the same messages. I sometimes get frustrated over all the evil in the world, but it’s comforting to know there are also a lot of good people. That gives me hope in the future. Hope in knowing that as the wicked get more wicked the righteous will get more righteous.

Someone Prayed

2009-03-23T20:35:00.001-07:00

For college students good part time jobs were hard to come by. I found a job driving school busses in the winter which lead me to a job driving Grayhound Busses in the summer. I was responsible for driving the second bus when the first bus was full. I would drive from Flagstaff AZ, where I was attending NAU, to Gallop NM and spend the night and drive another bus back.

My wife was pregnant with our third child. She had started having contractions one evening and sure enough they called wanting me to drive one of the busses to Gallop. I told them my wife was in labor and they would have to get someone else. They said they would get someone else, so we went to the hospital. Unfortunately it was false labor and so we ended up going back home.

I got to bed around midnight but couldn’t sleep. I keep getting the impression that I needed to go down to the bus station. Because of this, I knew they hadn’t found another bus driver. I got dressed and told my wife I needed to go down to the bus station. She couldn’t understand why, I had not received any phone call telling me I needed to.

When I got their sure enough there was a bus full of very angry passengers. The bus station was closed and they had been waiting there for hours with nothing to eat and no where to go. Had I not come they would have had to spend the night in the bus. The bus station being closed they had called everyone they could think of including the police. Needless to say they were very happy to see me. I called and woke my boss up to tell him I was driving the bus to Gallop.

When I got on the bus, some of the more aggressive passengers started questioning me. The conversation went something like this.
“Did the bus company call you?”
“NO”
“Did the police get a hold of you?
“NO”
Then who called you?
“No one.”
A moment of silence.
“Then how did you know we needed a driver?”

I thought “how do I answer this one, I want to be honest but they will think I’m crazy”.
So I simply looked out over the bus full of passengers and said,
“Someone Prayed”.
The bus went silent, as I looked at them a lady in the third row, isle seat, sheepishly made the slightest hand signal, which only I could see.
I said, “That’s why I’m here.”
I then got in the drivers seat, started the bus and drove them to Gallop.

It wasn’t the anger, rage and phone calls of the aggressive passengers that got them safely to Gallop that night. It was the lady in the third row who humbly prayed.

Fireproof

2009-02-01T21:43:00.000-08:00

Last night we rented Fireproof from blockbuster. Part way through I found myself thinking that it was just a come to Jesus movie. But it actually had a good plot. It was about a fireman who ends up trying to save his marriage, with a lot of the struggles that most marriages face. It included his struggles to overcome his selfishness and additions, and coming to truly love those important people in his life. Problems we all face.

I realized it was one of the first modern movies that weren’t promoting Sex, Violence and Homosexuality. It is getting more and more difficult to find good movies. Is it getting to the point that the only movies they aren’t promoting evil are from a few religious groups. Clearly the division between good and evil is widening.

Satan has most all the modern media is serving him and promoting all forms of evil. A company would have to pay millions for that much advertising. By they have willfully become his advertising network. The sad thing is that he doesn’t have to pay, we pay for it. We call it a little entertainment. It is no wonder we are considered by some to be the great Satan, if this is all they have to judge us by.

Goals

2009-01-12T21:26:00.000-08:00

OK, it new years and everyone is making these goals. I wasn’t going to do it because I usually don’t keep them anyway. But I decided to do it anyway. So here is my goal.

Take one of my multiple invention ideas and complete it.

OK, that's it, my one and only goal. All my life I have had tons of ideas but never felt I had the time or money to do it. Most of them are related to energy conservations or efficiency of some sort. So this year I’m going to do it. I will post what it is and the results.

Also, I would like to also finish my back yard, put in security cameras, organize my garage, loose 15 lbs, work on a book, etc. But those aren’t goals they are tasks, which I will try to do also.

A Christmas Gift

2008-12-21T20:53:00.000-08:00

There is a woman in our neighborhood that recently lost her husband. She has been really struggling with all the aftermath. She had a lot of the, angry at the world and God attitude. The happy ever after had not worked out for her. She was now stuck with four kids to rise on her own while having to work two jobs to support them. I went with another man from our church to visit her. In our church we often go visit the needy.

We were visiting at the door; there was clear reluctance to let us in. I ask her if she was set for Christmas, she said “she was still working on it”. I thought “OK she needs the $100.00 in my pocket” (see Aug 07 blog), she resisted, but I insisted. Strong woman, reminded me of my mother who was also a widow. She was a strong woman, was going to do it own her own and didn’t want charity, even if she desperately needed it.

We were about to leave when she invited us in. I told her I understood some of what she was going through. Not that I had gone through it, but that I had lived it from the point of view of a child. I understood to some degree where she was and talked to her about it. It was clear she needed some one that understood. We talked about some of the things she was going though. I tried to make it clear that I understood and didn’t in any way think she was bad or anything other than normal.

Talked about how difficult it was to go to church and see all the couples sitting with their kids and spouse. How she feels like a misfit, but goes for the children. How the happy ever after didn’t work out for her through no fault of her own. That life for her wasn’t fair. That it was going to take years for her to get through it all. She was moving out of her house and we talked about the need to start over and leave some of the memories behind.

As we went to leave I went to give her a quick hug. She started crying and just needed held for a moment. She needed to be cared about by someone who simply cared about her as a person with no other purpose or intention.

She has a hard path ahead of her, as do a lot of other single mothers. It is not possible for me or anyone else to take the path away. Though occasionally we my have the opportunity to help along the way. I was glad that for a short “moment in my life” I was able to give a small token of service, and in memory of my father (see “A White Christmas” below) I was able to give some wood (thought it was refined into green paper) for Christmas.

A White Christmas

2008-12-04T18:51:00.000-08:00

This is a story that was published in the Dec 05 New Era. Being its Christmas time I decided to add it. Left is our last family picture, taken a little before the story below. I'm the little boy on the left standing in front.

Wood for Widows

White Christmases were always the best! Christmas Eve I would sit at the window, watching the streetlight, hoping to see flakes of snow falling. We didn’t often have snow for Christmas but it was bitter cold and it was supposed to snow. I stayed up watching for snow until my mother insisted I go to bed. I prayed that night, hoping that morning would find the ground covered with fresh fallen snow.

On Christmas morning I woke early. To my joy, the Christmas tree was surrounded with presents. The excitement gathering around the Christmas tree and discovering what treasures waited inside the wrapping paper made up for still not having snow. As my dad passed out the presents, I stacked mine in front of me. I was eager to see if my pile of presents was larger than my siblings. Especially my older brother Ron, he seemed to always get more and nicer presents than me. I understood he had polio when he was two, leaving him crippled in both legs. It seemed my parents were always nicer to him, though other kids often picked on him.

We were quite poor and most Christmases were meager. My mother had asked Ron before Christmas if he was interested in a racecar set. He had told her, no, he wanted something else. When she asked me I had said “yes” trying not to sound too eager. It had worked. I had gotten the racecar set along with some of the other things I wanted.

We lived on a farm and always had chores to do. My father left to do his chores right after we opened our gifts. It was my job to feed and water the chickens. I was praying that my mom wouldn’t make me stop playing with the racecar set long enough to do my chores. When my dad returned he told me that he had done our chores for us including feeding and watering the chickens. I was excited, I could spend the entire day in the nice warm house playing with my new racecar set. He then said something to my mother about Blanche (an elderly widow down the street) who was out looking for firewood. Ron and I went quickly back to playing with our toys. That was my dad, always looking out for others. It seemed like the entire town depended on him to do things for them. Anytime they needed their car looked at, equipment welded, or a car pulled out of a mud hole, they came to my dad. Blanche wouldn’t come to my dad. She felt he was too busy. Besides, he had been in the hospital to have his spleen removed a few weeks before. His blood wasn’t clotting properly and the doctors had removed his spleen hoping it would help.

The next thing I knew my father was asking us boys if we wanted to go get some wood with him. I couldn’t believe it, on Christmas? I knew that wood was Blanche’s only way of staying warm and cooking. But couldn’t someone else get Blanche firewood, or at least couldn’t we just take her a little off our woodpile? Or wait until tomorrow, surely she had enough wood to last until then. But no! He wanted to go into the woods and get a whole truckload. I complained but it didn’t do any good. We were expected to go. So much for spending the day playing with my new racecar set.

We bundled up well and headed for the woods. At least it was warm in the cab of the truck, but soon we would be out in the cold loading the truck with wood, which happened all too soon. My dad was very good at getting his boys to help him. We each had our job, my dad would run the chain saw and cut the wood. Grant my oldest brother, would split the wood. I would load and my next oldest brother Ron, being crippled, would sit in the back of the truck and stack the wood. My dad was always good at making Ron part of whatever we did and feel important and needed. Eager to get back to our toys we all worked hard. He had cut a big tree and we almost had it loaded. I thought it was plenty, but my dad cut into another big tree. This is going to take forever, I thought, “I’m cold and tired and want to play with my toys and he is cutting down another tree.” We finally got it all split and loaded. At last we were headed home. It was nice to be back in the warmth of the cab of the truck again. All we had to do was unload the wood and then I could go back to my racecar set.

We backed up to Blanche’s house and started unloading the wood. I couldn’t believe it! There wasn’t of sliver a wood to be found anywhere in her yard. The only thing she had left to burn was her house itself. I was worried about losing time playing with my racecar set, while she was worried about freezing. As we were unloading the wood she came out of her house. My dad looked up and said “Merry Christmas.” She started crying, and my dad got down from the truck to console her. I couldn’t fight back a few tears myself. I tried hard not to let it show, but then I noticed a tear in my brother’s eye too. My presents didn’t mean anything to me now. The fact that I was able to help keep someone from freezing on Christmas day meant much more to me than all the toys in the world.

That night it snowed. My mother said she was glad that we had gotten Blanche firewood. I was glad too, really glad. Never will I forget the lesson and spirit of truly giving to others. But that wasn’t the only lesson that we learned that year. This act of kindness on my dad’s part would have an influence that would not be realized for years to come.

The next Christmas would not be so happy, we sat around solemn faced, after opening our presents. Finally Ron said, “lets go get wood”. Nothing more needed to be said. We all got our coats, hats and gloves and headed out the door. Again we were getting wood for a widow. But this time it was our mother. It wasn’t that we needed the wood, it was something deeper. Two weeks before Christmas my dad died on my oldest brother’s 16th birthday. He left seven children to be raised by my mother. But my dad had taught us to work. So my brothers and I would make sure that we had wood for the next year and each year after that.

I suppose that because of that one act of kindness, and the lessons that he had taught his boys, he assured that his widowed wife would never go without wood. We not only got wood for our mother but often we would get it for other widows. Often on Christmas day after we had opened our presents my brothers and I would go out after wood for one of the widows. Though it was never spoken openly between us, we were all doing it in memory of our father.

Times have changed and most people don’t use firewood to stay warm. So our tradition of getting firewood has died. There are few people in our society that are in danger of freezing on Christmas day but there are many who need warmed on the inside.

Plane trip

2008-11-23T20:41:00.000-08:00

I recently took a plane trip and had an interesting conversation with the person that sat next to me. He was a prestigious medical doctor and had plenty of money. I asked about a book he was reading that looked like it was about Buddhism. It was actually a sort of new age spiritualism book. He begin telling me all about it and about these other powers out there and the things others could do with these powers. “This conversation is not going where I want it to go” I thought. I wanted to end it and go back to reading my book. But then I thought maybe he sat down by me for a reason.

I explained as plainly and forcefully as I could that there are always two sides to such power and that he needs to be careful not to follow the wrong side. The bad side will seek to deceive and bring destruction. The good side will never deceive and cannot be used for evil. He said but they say there is no good or bad. Let’s see, where have I heard that one before.

22 And behold, others he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none—and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance.

(Book of Mormon 2 Nephi 28:22)

I took some time but I finally convinced him that there was good and evil in this world and on the other side. I told him I had experienced both sides and wanted nothing more of the evil side, ever. The good side brings peace and happiness. What ever you put into life you get back out. I then gave him a copy of the most spiritually powerful book I know of “The Book of Mormon”. He promised to read it. If he does it can push evil away and bring goodness into his life.

I changed the conversation to his family; he was married with two little girls. I told him that families are the most important and that is where true happiness comes from. He told me he was currently separated from his wife. I asked if there was a chance for them to get back to gather. He said that he got to angry every time he was around her. I’m thinking “I’m not a psychologist” but kept talking to him, I was on a plane with little else to do.

He said that she was clueless of his needs and neglected the children. She would leave the children home alone sleeping in the crib for hours. He explained to her that it was illegal and she couldn’t do that but she did it any way. I asked if she loved the kids. He had asked her that and she said “They will take care of me when I get old”. I’m thinking what a totally selfish person and the children need protected. But realized I was only hearing his side of the story.

He wasn’t interested in divorcing her and taking custody of the kids. I agreed that what the kids need was a normal function mother. I suggested that he get her some counseling. He had tried. I asked if she was abused as a child. He was shocked at the idea and said “no”. I said “but she disassociates from emotional things”, he agreed and in thinking more about it gave several indications of childhood abuse, and agreed that maybe she had been.

I suggested that he change the way he looked at her and try to better understand her. That getting angry was not going to change her or solve any problems, that he needed to learn to control that anger. She needs help and he should find ways to get her that help. The kids are the most important and that their mother, functional, is the best thing for them.

I may never know if the conversation did him any good or made a difference in his life. But it made me grateful for the wife and family I have, and for the principle of the gospel that has guided me to the life that I have. I have what prestige and money cannot buy.

You owe $500,000.00 to the US Government

2008-10-12T20:29:00.001-07:00

With all the talk about the bank bailouts, I did some math. With the US government bailouts we are approaching 12 Trillion dollars in US debt. There are 116 million households in the US. That is over $100,000 dollars for every household in the United States. If we add expected Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security to it then it is around 60 Trillion Dollars. That is over $500,000 per household. Do you have that kind of money?

That is ten times the average household income of $50,223 (Aug. 28, 2008 census). That means the average family owes over ten times their annual income to the US government. How do they expect us to ever pay this off? Don’t you think we need to pay for socialized medicine too?

Total US Debt with Bailouts
$ 12,000,000,000,000
Number of US Households
$ 116,000,000
US Debt Per US Household
$ 103,448
Average US Household Income
$ 50,233

Including Medicaid, Medicare and SS
$ 60,000,000,000,000
Total US Debt Per US Household
$ 517,241

The problem is that they don’t have that money. They have to borrow it. A good portion of the money lent to the US comes from China. California is now asking the Federal Government for a loan because they can’t borrow money. I hope the US government can borrow the money, because no one else can. If that happens, will they be able to secure the money you have in the bank? Will it be the undoing of America as we know it?

We are now facing financial problems like we have never seen before. The Democrats and Republicans point the finger at each other, but neither party stopped it. All of them helped create these problems. These are the people we elected and were not willing to change it. But we keep reelecting them!

Is this truly about saving the economy? They have dumped Billions of dollars in it already and it hasn’t made the banks free up money. They had thousands of voters asking them not to pass the bailout. So they didn’t pass it, until they added another 110 billion in pork. Doesn’t that make us Americans we proud of them? Even as they were putting this bill into law, stocks were dropping. Yes, once again the government stepped in to save us! I’m sure they saved some of their rich campaign contributors (with our money), but there are no guarantees in it for you and me. What does your retirement account look like after they saved it?

Some day we will wake up to find ourselves out of a job and homeless. Maybe then we will make some real changes, but you need an address to register to vote. Of course the rich campaign contributors (with our money) will get to keep their homes, so our wonderful elected officials are safe.

If you pass this information along, make sure you include a letter to your congressman. To check my data, see the following links.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_public_debt

http://www.tahlequahdailypress.com/features/local_story_269100546.html

http://moneynews.newsmax.com/streettalk/bill_gross_bailout_bigger/2008/09/25/134308.html

http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/income_wealth/012528.html

http://www.nytimes.com/ref/washington/ROLLCALL.html?currentChamber=house&currentSession=2&currentCongress=110&currentRoll=681

You have a moment in your life.

2008-07-17T17:12:00.000-07:00

You have a moment in your life.
To do anything you wish.
This moment is totally yours.
to be anywhere,
to be with anyone,
to have anything,
to say anything,
to think anything,
to feel anything,
to do anything.

You have a moment in your life.
Take this moment,
Be there in your mind.
Where are you?
What are you doing?
Are you where you really want to be?
Are you with those you love?
Are you with those who love you?

You have a moment in your life.
The moment is right now.
Are you thinking about;
yourself,
others,
God,
those you love,
those who love you?

You have a moment in your life.
What are you feeling?
Are those feelings;
of anger,
of resentment,
of frustration,
of joy,
of happiness,
of love,
of pleasure?

You have a moment in your life.
This moment is yours,
And everything about it,
those thoughts,
those feelings,
those actions,
are yours.

You have a moment in your life.
You have power over this moment.
Power over the feelings of
of anger,
of resentment,
of frustration,
of bitterness,
of sorrow.

You have a moment in your life.
In this moment you have power.
The power to master feelings;
of joy,
of happiness,
of pleasure,
of peace,
of love.

You have a moment in your life.
With that moment you have power.
To influence the feelings of others;
with anger,
with frustration,
with sadness,
with happiness,
with peace,
with joy,
with love.

You have a moment in you life.
Your life is this moment.
And this moment is;
every minute,
of every hour,
of every day.

You have a moment in your life.
What going to do, with your moment?
Are you going to;
be happier,
be giving,
be caring,
be loving.

You have a moment in your life.
What are you choosing for your moment?
With your moment will others;
feel happier,
feel appreciated,
feel needed,
feel loved.

You have a moment in your life.
Your life is your moment,
You choose how to live it.

The End of the Best of Times

2008-07-10T22:14:00.000-07:00

I was very disturbed after the terrorist attacks on 9-11-2001. Was it a sign of latter day events? I spent two weeks having great anxiety about it. I came to the conclusion that we had more time, that it was a warning, a precursor, a start but not the end.

In the September conference President Hinckley gave a talk called “Living in the Fulness of Times”. http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=e567759235d0c010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1
In it he said the vision of Joel has been fulfilled, meaning that the signs and events of the second coming have started. He mentioned that all the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah haunt or society. But was reassuring in what the church stands for and what it will become. We must understand that Zion cannot be established until Babylon falls. Not that I am eager for the fall of Babylon, but know it must happen.

He also gave a talk entitled “The Times in Which We Live”. http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=9caa8c6a47e0c010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1
The following are quotes from that talk.
“I have just been handed a note that says that a U.S. missile attack is under way. I need not remind you that we live in perilous times. I desire to speak concerning these times and our circumstances as members of this Church.”
“I cannot forget the great lesson of Pharaoh’s dream of the fat and lean kine and of the full and withered stalks of corn.
I cannot dismiss from my mind the grim warnings of the Lord as set forth in the 24th chapter of Matthew.
I am familiar, as are you, with the declarations of modern revelation that the time will come when the earth will be cleansed and there will be indescribable distress, with weeping and mourning and lamentation (see D&C 112:24).
Now, I do not wish to be an alarmist. I do not wish to be a prophet of doom. I am optimistic. I do not believe the time is here when an all-consuming calamity will overtake us. I earnestly pray that it may not. There is so much of the Lord’s work yet to be done. We, and our children after us, must do it.”

Some interesting things to note;
The number 7 seams to be significant with the Lord meaning complete, 3.5 is also significant meaning incomplete.
The missile attack started during October Conference, and at the end of Sukkot a Jewish holyday, celebrated for ending the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.
President Hinckley spoke of Pharaoh’s dream. Joseph was separated from his brethren. Stored grain for 7 yrs, which faithfulness allowed him to save his brothers both physically and spiritually. Most of us are descendents of Joseph and have a similar responsibility in the last days. (Doctrine and Covenants Section 124:58)
We have been told for years to store food and are now we are starting to see a food shortage.
September 2008 will start the Seventieth Jubilee year.
April 5, 2009 is conference and an important day in the Mayan, Venus, Mercury and Hebrew calendars. http://www.johnpratt.com/items/docs/lds/meridian/2006/joshua.html#1.1

I’m not in the least saying that I think the second coming will happen then. In fact, I’m sure that is several years off. I do think however, that the time to prepare is drawing short.

Random thoughts about me

2008-05-04T13:58:00.000-07:00

My Daughter tagged me so here are the random thoughts about me.

1. I have gray hair and a granddaughter, but don’t feel that old.

2. I have been more blessed than anyone I know, with a good wife and marriage, three wonderful kids, a wonderful son and daughter in-law and the most wonderful granddaughters, (ones still on the way).

3. I always want to help others but am always cautious that, I don’t get taken advantage of, or take away the lesson god is trying to teach them. Sometimes the difficult things we go through are for us to learn important lessons.

4. I have always wanted to wean America and the world of petroleum or the current rapid use of it. It is a limited supply and when we run out, life as we know it will no longer exist. It influences every aspect of our life.

5. There have only been two people in my life that I could not like. One was our downstairs neighbor in collage. He put his kids to bed at 6:00 and we put ours to bed at 8:00. In a very self righteous way he let the entire neighborhood and church group know how horrible we were. The other was an attorney. Nothing against attorneys, I have a lot of very good friends who are attorneys. But this guy was such a snake. There have been a few more that I have simply chosen not to like.

6. I’m a reformed hick. I grew up in a very small town less than 500 people even now. I had a very poor education. I now have a degree in Physics and work as a scientist for a major utility. I will make that a Blog story someday.

7. Someday I’m going to build my own electric hybrid car. I’ve been saying that for 25 years and am not much close than I was then, but still want to do it.

8. My mind is constantly coming up with new ideas but I never have the time or money to try them. I’m hoping that will change with this new job.

9. Four things I worry about happening to the US. I added this, only because I fell we need to be prepared for such things. 1. Another terrorist attack, it would cripple our sagging economy. 2. Large natural disasters, the frequency of natural disasters have been ever increasing, it would be another blow to the economy. 3. Loss of supply of petroleum, this would be a final blow to the economy, we are totally dependent on petroleum. 4. Anarchy, from a failed economy.

Gratitude

2007-11-18T20:30:00.000-08:00

I had to speak in church last Sunday. So here is my talk.

I was asked to speak on the “Attitude of Gratitude”. I had this dream last night that my name was left off the program so I didn’t have to speak. I guess some dreams don’t come true. So, I will just have to have an “attitude of gratitude” and be grateful for the opportunity to speak.

On the church web site it says.

Gratitude is a feeling of appreciation and thankfulness for blessings or benefits we have received. As we cultivate a grateful attitude, we are more likely to be happy and spiritually strong. We should regularly express our gratitude to God for the blessings He gives us and to others for the kind acts they do for us.

The Lord has promised, "He who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious" (D&C 78:19). Gratitude is an uplifting, exalting attitude. People are generally happier when they have gratitude in their hearts. We cannot be bitter, resentful, or mean-spirited when we are grateful.

One night shortly after we got married, I was tired and wanted to go to bed. My wife said she needed to do the dishes first. I told her that I would do them the next day. This was huge for me because I grew up on a farm and my sister had to do the dishes. When they would complain I would tell them, I would do the dishes when they milked the cow.

The next day was along day at work and I got home late. My wife had spent the day baking. In the process she had dirtied every dish in the house. Both sinks and the counter tops were covered with dirty dishes. There were dishes I didn’t even know we had and they were all dirty. I really didn’t want to have to do all those dishes. I had a choice to make. I could have an “attitude of gratitude” for all the things she had baked or be upset because of all dishes I was now expected to wash.

Well I’m not perfect and mentioned all the dirty dishes. My wife began to feel bad and apologize, and I quickly realized that was not the write choice. I quickly changed my tune and started telling her I appreciated all the things she had baked. I realized that if I wanted to be happy and have a happy wife I needed an attitude of gratitude. Sometimes us guy’s can learn.
I have learned that life is full of those choices. Anyone can find something up to complain about. You can complain about church leaders, friends and family members, because they don’t do things the way you would like or give you what you want. Or you can be grateful for their love and service. It’s almost requires a constant effort to let the things that bother us go and be grateful for the things we have.

It takes a strong person to have an “attitude of Gratitude’. When we do, not only are we happier but those around us are happier also. Everyone wants to be appreciated for the things they do. One of the difficult principles that people have a hard time grasping is that what goes around comes around. If you want to be appreciated by others, appreciate them. If you want to be loved by others, love others. There are a few who will not return your love and appreciation, but there are plenty who will. Fill your life with the kinds of people who will return love and appreciation. Parents, you must understand that if you kids aren’t getting love and appreciation at home, they will look for it somewhere else.
—See True to the Faith (2004), 78–79

“We should be thankful for the wonderful blessings that are ours and for the tremendous opportunities we have. We can be thankful to our parents, family, friends, and teachers. We should express appreciation to everyone who has assisted us in any way.

We should thank our Heavenly Father for His goodness to us by acknowledging His hand in all things, thanking Him for all that He gives us, keeping His commandments, and serving others. We should especially thank Him for His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, for the Savior's great example, for His teachings, for His outreaching hand to lift and help, for His infinite Atonement. “
There is no sacrifice that you can make for others that is greater than the sacrifice Christ has made for you. We should always have and an “attitude of Gratitude” for him.

Some times we look at others and think they have things so much better than us, and some of them do. But in this country we are so richly blessed. Someone said that we live better than any king that ever has ever lived. After thinking about it we really do. Never in the history of the world have any been able to get on a plane and be the other side of the country in a few hours, or drive in to church in the comfort of our cars. We have Ipods to store and play our selection of music. Cell phones to call or text our family and friends incautiously from most anywhere. For all this we should have an “attitude of gratitude”.

When my daughter was young she would sometimes see what others had and complain that life wasn’t fair. I would tell her that she was right, that “if life was fair she would be living in a hut in China and scrambling for food everyday”. After graduating from high school she went to China. We received an email from her on the day she arrived all it said was “China has humbled me”. Attached were pictures of the huts people lived in and people begging in the streets for food. The experience helped her have more of an “attitude of gratitude”.

When she way young she was a very difficult child to handle. She was always complaining and was difficult to like. Her first year at girls camp the leaders almost sent her home, because she complained about the food and convinced all the other girls that the cooks were trying to poison them.

Then all of a sudden, I still haven’t figured out what happed, but this girl that was very difficult to like, developed an “attitude of gratitude”. She started showing love and appreciation to everyone. She developed this amazing ability to make people feel loved and important. She became a young women that everyone loved and adored. Instead of leaders complaining about her, they were telling me how wonderful she was.

Her last year at girls camp we got letters from other wards telling us how much they appreciated the influence she was on their young women. One leader who with terminal cancer, who’s husband didn’t want her to go to camp, said, that “meeting and being with my daughter was why she felt inspired to go to girls camp, against her husbands wishes.”. I marveled that a few years earlier they were ready to send her home. What a difference a little change in attitude can make.

On one occasion I had the opportunity to wake across the high school campus whit her. I wouldn’t have been caught dead with my parent in high school. But she didn’t seam to mind. I was truly amazed that every student we met called her by name and said hi. I would occasionally ask whom that person was and often she would say she didn’t know. I was surprised because she had just said hi back as thought they were one of her best friends. I said everyone but there was one who didn’t. He was clearly one of those misfits’ ratty cloths, head down the kind of person everyone avoids. I was surprised when she said hi to him. He simply grunted in a response.

I realized that she was very popular. Not because she was a cheerleader or student body president. I was because she was kind, loving and accepting to everyone and she was well liked in return. It’s not that she didn’t have problems and challenges like everyone else. But her “attitude of gratitude” made life better for here and everyone around her.

President Faust Said
I desire to discuss gratitude as an expression of faith and as a saving principle. The Lord has said, “And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments” (D&C 59:21). It is clear to me from this scripture that to “thank the Lord thy God in all things” (D&C 59:7) is more than a social courtesy; it is a binding commandment.

In the book of Helaman we read of the distraction of the Nephite nation shortly before the coming of Christ.

11 Now this great loss of the Nephites, and the great slaughter which was among them, would not have happened had it not been for their wickedness and their abomination which was among them; yea, and it was among those also who professed to belong to the church of God.
12 And it was because of the pride of their hearts, because of their exceeding riches, yea, it was because of their oppression to the poor, withholding their food from the hungry, withholding their clothing from the naked, and smiting their humble brethren upon the cheek, making a mock of that which was sacred, denying the spirit of prophecy and of revelation, murdering, plundering, lying, stealing, committing adultery, rising up in great contentions, and deserting away into the land of Nephi, among the Lamanites—

(Book of Mormon Helaman 4:11 - 12)

It appears that they lost their “attitude of gratitude”. I deeply fear that we are going down the same path and will see similar destructions. Our economy is fragile and it won’t take much to bring it down.

I’m grateful for this gospel and the principles that it teaches. I promise that if you will live by these principles you will have a much happier life and will receive greater blessings in this life and in the life to come. If you have an attitude of gratitude you will be happier and those around you will certainly be happier.

Finding Truth

2007-10-30T20:40:00.000-07:00

Truth, the glue of all existence.

In studying the scriptures it is important to look for symbolisms in them. The scriptures are full of symbols. Much in the same way Christ spoke in parables the scriptures speak is symbolism. Why do they? It is probably, for the same reason that Christ spoke in parables. So the unseeking would not understand.

11 And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:
12 That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.

(New Testament Mark 4:11 - 12)

Those who would not seek and understand on their own are to be held in chains of darkness. The greater light is not given to the wicked they would not accept it or would use it in time for wicked purposes. There is also the possibility that they may repent and have place in the kingdom of heaven and latter return to their wickedness.

An important thing to realize is that most of the principles of the gospel are eternal. The course of God is one eternal round. The principles that govern this universe are eternal. It is these same principles that govern or should govern our existence on earth. By these laws we are either justified or condemned. The laws are universal and govern all. Joseph Smith taught.

Every principle proceeding from God is eternal, and any principle which is not eternal is of the devil. The sun has no beginning or end; the rays which proceed from himself have no bounds, consequently are eternal. . . .

. . . The first step in the salvation of men is the laws of eternal and self-existent principles. (Joseph Smith, The Words of Joseph Smith, p. 60; standardized)

(Joseph Smith, Encyclopedia of Joseph Smith's Teachings, edited by Larry E. Dahl and Donald Q.Cannon [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1997], .)

We progress no faster than we come to understand and live the laws as set forth by God. Eternal principles are not learned or lived in a day. We progress as we lean and live the principles of truth and light. There are many principles that we cannot learn except by experience. In Adams fall he become as the Gods knowing good from evil.

As far as we degenerate from God, we descend to the devil and lose knowledge, and without knowledge we cannot be saved. . . .

. . . A man is saved no faster than he gets knowledge, for if he does not get knowledge, he will be brought into captivity by some evil power in the other world, as evil spirits will have more knowledge, and consequently more power than many men who are on the earth. Hence it needs revelation to assist us, and give us knowledge of the things of God. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 4:588)

This quote by Joseph Smith makes it clear that knowledge is key to gaining eternal salvation. It is by that knowledge that we a kept free of deception. In the preexistence the war in heaven was over truth. One third of the hose of heaven was lead astray by the lies of satin. This battle continues on earth.

It is our objective and duty to gain light and truth while here on earth. It is by gaining light and truth that we progress. If we put no effort into gaining greater light and truth then we cannot progress and in fact will retrogress. The world is full of lies and deceptions. If we are not seeking true light and truth then we will be deceived by the deceptions of the world. We need to consider and accept that we have a very limited knowledge of truth. It is our opportunity to find and live by light and truth while we are here on earth; if we do not then we are condemned.

It is and seems to have ever been that man finds some principle of truth, or some principle that he believes to be true and never considers more truth. He spends his energies trying to convince himself and others that his beliefs are the absolute truth. Never humbling himself to seek truth beyond his present state of knowledge.

There are a great many wise men and women too in our midst who are too wise to be taught; therefore they must die in their ignorance, and in the resurrection they will find their mistake. Many seal up the door of heaven by saying, So far God may reveal and I will believe. (Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7 Vols. 5:424)

There are even more who are content to let others be their source of truth. Trusting that they know more than them and never seeking truth and light in and of themselves. Thus the blind often lead the blind. And the blind are happy to follow.

Is being blindly led in the wrong direction only a problem for us? A third of the host of heaven followed after Satin. Clearly they had agency and clearly could follow him or Christ.

…and also a third part of the hosts of heaven turned he away from me because of their agency;

(Doctrine and Covenants Section 29:36)

Yet there is in each of us the natural tendency to resist truth. To shun it as though it was a plague. Perhaps that is why truth seldom comes unless we seek it or are humble enough to not resist it. So often we are envious of those who have obtained a higher level of truth than us.

11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.

(New Testament 1 Corinthians 2:11)

2007-10-30T20:32:00.000-07:00

My wife loves me this I know
Becuase she always tells me so.

$100 dollars in my pocket

2007-08-12T21:38:00.000-07:00

I have $100 in my pocket. It’s mine, but it is not for me. It’s for, well I don’t know yet. I suppose it all started when I was a kid. My dad was always helping people out especially the less fortunate. One of my fondest memories was helping him get wood for a widow on Christmas day. Turned out to be my best and last Christmas with him, as he died before the next Christmas. For full story see “Wood for Widows” New Era, December 2005, 36.

After my father died one of the men in our neighborhood took in a large family in addition to his large family. He didn’t have enough for his own family let alone taking on this additional family. He asked me if I could plow his field so he could grow corn and beans. I was glad for the opportunity to help him out. He wasn’t home when I finished plowing the field but he sent his son out with $20 to pay me. I didn’t want to take the money but was afraid the son wouldn’t give it back to his father. So I took it with the plan to give it back to him the next time is saw him. For a young teenager twenty dollars is hard to keep on your pocket. It was one of the hardest twenties that I have ever had to keep. In fact I couldn’t. I spent it a couple of times but managed to somehow to re-earn the money. I gave him back the $20, he tried to resist but it told him “I had no use for it”. I lied, it was all the money I had and I didn’t know when I would be able to earn more money. But he needed it more than I did.

There was the time when the bag lady (that what the kids in the neighborhood called her) was pushing her grocery cart of aluminum cans down the street. I was driving by when my daughter said, “dad give her some money”. It was around Christmas and I wanted to set a good example for my daughter. So I turned the car around, parked and got out. When I walked up too her she acted scared. She pulled her cart close to her as if she thought I was going to still her cart of cans. I handed her a $20 and said Merry Christmas. She still was still unsure of me, and what I wanted. Slowly she unfolded the bill. When she saw it was a $20 she “gasped”. Tears came to her eyes as she said “thank you”. I thought how odd, its only $20. Then I realized that to me it was less than an hour at work. To her it was several days of collecting cans.

Then there was the lady at the hotel trying to get a room. She didn’t have a credit card and didn’t have cash. I simply handed the clerk my credit card and told the clerk to bill it to me. The lady started to resist but I told her it was OK. She broke down crying and through the tears said they had been traveling all day to bring her grandson for surgery the next day. She had been to several hotels and couldn’t get rooms. They had been trying to rent a room by having a family member call in their credit card but the hotels wouldn’t let them do that.

I don’t know the first time I put the 100 dollars in my wallet. I showed it to a group of scouts once. One asked why I carried $100 in my wallet. I said, “someday someone will need it and it will be theirs”. And that is the way it has been for years. There was the widow who has been forced out of her home, the lady who was divorcing her husband for abusing her kids, the single mother so she could have Christmas for her kids, the guy who has spent time being homeless and was trying to get back on his feet, the single mother who wanted to take her girls on vacation but didn’t have the money, the lady who’s house burned down and she need clothes for her and her grandkids, the list goes on. I don’t know how many times I have given it away. But within a few weeks it has always came back. We are not rich and the family finances couldn’t handle hundreds of dollars going out. But every time I gave it away, extra money come in to replace it.

I don’t know when the $100 I now have will be need by someone, but god does. When the time is right, I will know, and it will be gone. But it will come back, it always does.

Saying Good Morning

2007-07-15T20:18:00.001-07:00

At one of the jobs i had everyone seamed very nice, except one person. She would swear like a sailor, even in front of guest. She was always in a bad mood and didn’t want to do anything for anyone, except her boss. Everyone except her was getting paid too much and didn’t deserve anything extra. I thought to my self, I have to watch what I say or do around her. If I needed something from her, I would simply find another way to get it done.

But despite this, I was nice to her. Each morning as I would walk by her desk I would pleasantly say “good morning”. At first there was a grumble, latter the grumble turned into a sarcastic good morning back, gradually the return good mornings became sincere. I was shocked one day, when returning from a trip she offered to do my expense report for me. She was even pleasant about it. I admit I was some worried about why she was being nice to me.

After a year of working there. I discovered that she is not only being nicer to me but to everyone else. It has probably been months since I herd her swear. I’m not saying that my niceness changed her life and attitude. But I hope it has made a difference. We never know how the little things we do will affect others.

Omega Thoughts

2007-07-08T18:06:00.000-07:00

One of the operators at a gas-fired power plant was talking to me today. He said people are like a gas turbine; you have high frequency people and your low frequency people. These people like bad vibration in the turbine, cause lots of problems. If you don’t get them under control it can destroy the turbine. When these frequencies aren’t present, everything runs smooth and we can generate lots of power. This generated power is sent to the homes of thousands of people giving them the power they need to make their life better.

What kind of power a church or other group could create if they all worked together in love and harmony. They could do amazing things. What about our country, we have more wealth than any other country. If we were united we could do so much good. But there is too much politics; our elected officials are too busy battling each other, hoping that putting the other person down will gain them votes.

What about our homes, can’t we at least get along? How many kids and spouses have to go to bed with broken heats. What if we could turn hateful words into words of love and praise?

I remember one as a kid driving with my aunt and cousin. We were listing to a music tape and my cousin ejected it from the tape player. The tape got caught on the on the player door and he was about to break the tape to get it out. I said, “wait” I could see that the tape was just stuck on the player door. I pushed the door back open and saved the tape. As a kid, I was excited that I had saved one of their favorite tapes. My excitement was shattered when my ant turned to my cousin and said, “How many tapes have you ruined”. I couldn’t believe it; she took it as an opportunity to criticize her son. I had done something good and he had done nothing wrong.

Being kind and loving is not difficult. We all want to be loved and accepted. But we just don’t seam to understand, what goes around comes around. Give love and acceptance and you will get it in return. It may take time, but it will come back. I tried to apply this principle in raising my kids and it worked. In my home I seldom, if ever, hear mean or unkind things said by anyone in my family. The amazing thing is that it goes beyond your home. You will soon take it to work and your kids will take it to school.