The Big Four Oh!

Tonight I will simply say that I am grateful for my parents. They are wonderful people. I have learned much from them as they have lived lives of dedicated service to the Lord. Being born into a home of goodly parents has been a great blessing to me and I am grateful for the example that my parents set for me. For as long as I can remember they have served in the Church. The foundation of our home growing up was faith in Christ. Having that foundation of faith has provided for tremendous strength through the challenges and trials of life. Thank you mom and dad. The big four oh is representative of their 40th Wedding Anniversary today. That is pretty amazing, pretty awesome.

Life has never been free of trials or challenges for my folks. They have however pressed forward with faith no matter what the trial. That has been a great example to me and a road map of how I should live my life. I try to follow that example when life gets difficult and challenges seem overwhelming. Trusting in the Lord. It isn't always the easiest thing to do but it is always right. I hope that as I press forward I can do so with faith and a greater determination to serve the Lord.

In other news it was Stake Conference this weekend and the meetings were great. The theme was Ether 12:27:

And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

The messages offered some excellent counsel and direction. One Sister said that she never has a delay in answer to a prayer that includes petitioning the Lord for knowledge of her weaknesses. I think there are many of us that can relate to that. I can. I find myself overwhelmed sometimes by my weaknesses and I see that I am so far from where I need to be.

I made home teaching visits to the Fawsons and the Smiths today. These are both great families that I love. I read the message from President Uchtdorf and then I prayed to know what I should share and read it again. This was an excellent article. So simple and yet so profound as it deals directly with how we approach anything. Our perspective is either going to be positive or negative - the glass is half full or it is half empty. In the Ensign they actually show a picture of a glass with a statement regarding half full or half empty. I was impressed that this would be a great object lesson for the Fawson children. I was also impressed that there was an additional lesson there. We look at ourselves and sometimes we can beat ourselves up for the portion of our cups that remain half empty. It can be easy to become discouraged. That isn't what the Lord wants. Isn't Ether 12:27 interesting in what it says - my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them. I had the glass of water half full and as we discussed this point of the Savior I opened the bottle of water and filled the glass. The message was simply this, with the Savior we are made whole and our cups are full. In fact, with the Savior our cups will run over - Don't worry, I stopped short of pouring water all over the Fawsons living room.

The message was not only geared to how we see ourselves but how we look at others. Every one of us is a son or daughter of God and we each posess the same potential to become like him. Each of us has weakenesses and we each fall short of perfection. The Savior, if we come unto him, will make each of us whole. As we look at those around us and ourselves it will be much easier to focus on the good if we can remember that principle.

I also had a thought come to my mind of a quote that I have included in a previous post. This was something that Grandpa Al wrote many years ago. I don't know if he authored this but he did write it and it is something that has meant a lot to me over the last 15 years. "Don't look at the flaws as you go through life and even if you find em, tis wise and kind to be somewhat blind and look at the virtues behind them". I shared that with both the Fawsons and the Smiths and Roy Smith made a comment about how that act by Grandpa of writing that down, whether he authored it or not, has had an impact on my life and how neat that is. It was a cool thing. Then we knelt and had a prayer and I got a cramp in my right hamstring when we did so. They had no idea but I was sure nervous that I wouldn't beable to stand when the prayer was over. That was a first for me. It was all good though, no problems.

I will close with this final story of the day, no there are two. Jack managed to make the close of Stake Conference a major mess for me. After the closing prayer Jay suddenly appeared at our seats and said that a brother asked him in the hall if he was me and that there was a little boy in the bathroom that needed some help. That is the last thing I ever want to hear in a public place. Mmmm, not sure how it happened but Jack said a poop just slipped through his undies. Great. It only got better from there. Without getting too graphic we'll just say that 3 times I thought I had him cleaned up and three times I found that I was wrong. I finally gave up and after getting him mostly clean and still clothed I had him follow me right out to the car. He had a nice shower with his undies and pants when he got home. Lovely.

Okay the final story was actually the first part of my day. I was asked to give the opening prayer in Priesthood Leadership Meeting. With this assignment I was determined to be on time and so I headed to the Stake Center 10 minutes before the start of the meeting. The building is right around the corner so I had plenty of time. What was my surprise when it was a ghost town over there. Then I thought I must have the time wrong. I texted Jay and also made a call to President Fawson but didn't get through. I went back home to check my Stake Calendar to see if the time was in there. I passed by President Fawsons home and his car was still in the drive as was Jay's when I drove by his street. This was with about 2 minutes to spare before the start time I had thought. There was nothing in the calendar relative to times of meetings. At 7:45 I headed back to the Stake Center thinking surely people would be there now and as I drove by Jay's street his car was gone as was President Fawsons. I thought all was well and then I got to the Stake Center and it remained a ghost town. Now I was curious as to where they would be and sent texts out again asking if by chance the meeting was at a different location. Not sure why that would be, this is Stake Conference and surely it would be at the Stake Center. At 5 minutes to the hour I got a text back from President Fawson that simply said 200 South and about 250 West. I drove to that location. It was the building Rachel and I attended 13 years ago when we lived in Cedar and it was packed. President texted me again saying they had made room on the bench for me. I texted back and said thanks but I will just sit in the foyer. I was way too embarassed to walk into a meeting 30 minutes late that I was supposed to give the opening prayer for. I was going to go and apologize to the Stake President after the meeting but they were having another meeting with the Bishops. I will give him a call. President Fawson apologized to me that he didn't make me aware of the location. I'm sure it is a detail I just missed. Anyway President Fawson took care of the prayer for me. Sweet. At least I will know for next time right?