Hokey Pokey

There is a lot of rain in the country of Holland.  I got familiar with that reality in a hurry.  I also learned a very valuable lesson from the rain.  
One day, my companion and I rode our bikes to a person's house that we had met two days before.  Their home was a long bike ride from where we lived.  The ride was great on the way there but on the ride home, it began to rain--very hard!  My companion and I looked at one another surprised by our situation.  I have to admit that the experience wasn't that fun up until we decided to do something way out of our norm.  Jeff Reeves and I began to sing 'The Hokey Pokey.'  Visualize two Mormon missionaries, in suits, riding bikes like the ones straight out of the movie 'The Sound of Music', singing the extended version of the hokey pokey, with actions and all.  By the time we had thought of everything that we could sing about, and done them, we had arrived back to our apartment.  Reeves and I laughed about that experience not only then but for many days thereafter.  We had learned a lesson of having fun no matter what situation we found ourselves in.  I felt extremely blessed to have a companion that I really enjoyed, who would look at things on the bright side. 
Not everything that we do in life is that fun.  Sometimes we are expected to do things that are either out of our comfort zone or that we're not that interested in.  I challenge you to create a 'Hokey Pokey' moment of your own during these times of your life.
Let me piggyback something else onto this thought.  
I talked with a good friend, just the other day.  I called him and asked him how he was doing.  "I'm alright."  He muttered back.  You might not see anything wrong with his response.  Life is wonderfully generous to each one of us.  When someone asks how you are doing, I believe that it requires a more enthusiastic resonse than "I'm alright."  Once in a while, I would expect that kind of response but all of the other times the response ought to be "I'm great or I'm good."  
Look on the bright side.  It's easier to get through life and its much easier to listen to someone who is doing better than 'alright.'
That's the challenge of the day.  'The Hokey Pokey' always reminds me of that rainy day many years ago.  I am thankful for that great day!  

Listen And Obey

Its time for another blog post that deals with the inner feelings of the heart. 
When I was a teenager, I attended a church meeting with my dad.  It was a stake priesthood meeting and because my stake president had been seriously injured in an accident, my dad was conducting and overseeing the meeting.  He sat up on the stand in the chapel.  During a part of the meeting, my dad motioned for me to follow him out of the meeting.  I wondered what was wrong.  I stood up from my seat and followed him out to the car in the parking lot.  I asked him what we were doing.  He told me that the Holy Ghost has prompted him that he needed to go and visit an older couple, in our stake.  The woman was an active member of the church but the man was not.  The impression that he received was that he was to go and invite the man to be baptized and become a member of the church.  I must confess that I was thinking that there was no way that I was going to be the one extending the invitation.  My dad put that all at ease when he told me that we needed to go make that visit and that he was the one who was going to invite.  We arrived at the home of this couple and were warmly welcomed into their home.  They loved my dad and he loved them in return.  "What are you doing tonight?"  They asked.  Without hesitation, my dad told them exactly why we were there.  He invited the good man to become baptized and become a member of the church.  Now I honestly thought, at the time, that because my dad was doing what he was supposed to that this man would accept the invitation.  As courageous as my dad invited, this man declined the invitation.  My dad didn't even flinch.  He didn't seem bothered it either.  I was devastated, inside.  We had a great visit and when we left their home and got back into the car, dad taught me two valuable lessons.  One, he stated that we learned to listen and obey an impression with boldness.  Two, God knew that he could give an impression and know that my dad would listen and then act.  
I got to learn some good solid things that night.  Can I share one other thing that I thought was neat?  My dad received that impression during a meeting that had required planning.  It didn't matter to him.  I really admire and love him for the lessons he teaches me.
Each one of us receives similar whisperings just like my dad did.  I am trying to listen and then obey on the first time.  The blessing of helping somebody else is remarkable. 
Be ready, because today might be the day that you are called on to listen.  We are all in for a rewarding treat!

We Are All Very Rich

A number of years ago, Becky and I traveled to the Mexican Riviera with my parents.  It was a wonderful time.  We enjoyed seeing a different section of the world with a varied culture from that of our own. 
I must preface this conversation by stating that Becky and I weren't completely content with our home at that time.
We took a day tour into the jungle of Mexico and were amazed at the poverty we soon encountered.  We passed by a home where an older woman was sweeping the dirt that we would call the walkway leading to the front door of the house.  She didn't seem the least bit dissatisfied with what she had.  We felt like we were being ungrateful because of our 'rich' circumstances.  In reality, the beautiful home that we have was a mansion in their eyes.  Since we arrived home from that wonderful vacation, we have felt extremely blessed for what we have been given.  As a matter of fact, we have made improvements so that our house has become our home. 
It is truly a blessing to see and experience another culture.  Our lives are blessed over and over again.
Contentment is a blessing too. 
There is a church song that I sing with our boys.  One line from the song is good sound advice.
"Count your many blessings, name them one by one."
Give it a try.  Maybe it will surprise you how many blessings are actually showered upon your life.
We are a blessed generation with opportunities that are never-ending.  I love everything that is done for our immediate family out of the love that our extended family and friends have for us. 
Have a great day!

A Look At Life

I find it interesting the way I look at different facets of my life. In the past week, I have a niece who entered the missionary training center in Provo, Utah to prepare for the next eighteen months she will devote to serving God. Becky and I knelt down to pray together and Briana is now a constant part of those prayers. I love that things are changing and getting better. We pray for Briana that she will be strong as she learns the way that she needs to teach in order to find and instruct those who are waiting to hear her invitation to come unto Christ.

Also, last night, our youngest daughter Laurel, got registered for high school. I can’t believe that it was just yesterday that it was just Becky and I. The years fly by and we enter another chapter with anticipation and great excitement. The growing up of children is part of that change of which I speak. Their maturing is remarkable. What they live for is fascinating. I love it!

I heard a woman tell me years ago that her husband just wasn’t the man that he was the day they got married. I must have given her a strange look as she spoke those words to me. I then responded with, “Do you really want to be married to the same man he was all of those years before?” I want to be somebody that accepts change with gladness. Change gives us the opportunity for growth and maturity. If Becky said that I was the same man she married in 1994, I would be sad that there hadn’t been any growth.

Last night, I went and did some church related visiting into a couple of homes in our neighborhood. Both visits were very good. The people invited us into their homes generously. A man at one of the homes spoke of being somewhat of a troublesome kid when he was younger. I looked at him as he spoke and thought about the journey he had made to be the man he currently has become. The past is good to learn from but the future is bright and there is much to be grateful for in each of our lives.

I am blessed beyond imagination. I hope that I will always allow change to be a part of my life. It is the molding process. The refiner’s fire will shape us into what we are ultimately to become.

I Can Hear You Now

I attended a stake Youth Conference one year, and a part of that involved a service project. We helped to clean up the church buildings that resided in our stake boundaries. The Youth Conference was a two day event and the Saturday night portion was a youth testimony meeting where we could share our feelings about the events that we were a part.

The meeting was to be held out back of the large piece of property, behind the stake center. A man who was a member of the stake high council assigned to help with the youth brought a portable microphone/amplifier combination to help so that the speaker could be heard. I still remember the first girl standing in front of all of her peers to share her feelings of youth conference. The sound was great. About a minute into her speaking, the microphone went silent and the young girl could no longer be heard clearly. The man stood up and attempted to wriggle the cords to try to get the setup to work. To no availe. He grabbed the amplifier and walked out into the long grass until he disappeared from sight. I thought that he was walking back to the church to change out for another one. The meeting continued and those who stood to speak were asked to speak loudly so that everybody would be able to hear what they were saying. The man was gone for about ten minutes.

My dad was serving as a counselor to the stake president, at this time. I arrived home that evening after a very nice evening. He asked me how the night had gone. I told him about how spiritual and uplifting the testimony meeting was. I also told him about the microphone problems that we had encountered.

The man came back a short time later and plugged the microphone into the amplifier and it worked perfectly throughout the entire meeting. It was nice to be able to hear each of the kids as they shared personal feelings about youth conference.

A couple of days later, my dad arrived home, one evening, following a church meeting he had attended. He asked me if he could speak with me, in private. He began to share with me an experience I will never forget. The high councilor had told my dad that he had enjoyed a spiritual experience at youth conference. He talked about the trouble he had experienced with the microphone and amp. He then said that he wanted so badly for the youth of our stake to have an enjoyable experience. He had grabbed the amplifier and walked out into the tall grass, where he could be alone. He placed his hands on top of the amplifier and pleaded with God to allow it to work during the testimony meeting. He ended his prayer and excercised faith that God would hear and answer his prayer. As soon as he plugged the microphone in and it worked, he knew that God had indeed heard and answered his prayer.

I am trying to live my life so that I know that when I pray, I will be heard. He does hear and answer our prayers. Of these things, I have no doubt.

Self-Classification

Okay, you need to bear with me while I share a personal belief with you.
This is not intended to be a 'pass judgment on somebody else' blog post.  My intention is to give you something to think about.
Most people believe that financial status dictates whether a person has class.  I don't believe that.  I suggest that we break out the CLASSOMETER.
What is a classometer, you are asking yourself?  It is our personal measurement device that we can use to know how and who we really are.
For instance, will somebody please tell me how many people were taught that when one's mouth is full of food you should chew so that the mouth is closed and the rest of us don't have to enjoy the sight of that food?  By observation, there are not a lot who remember.
Also, Becky has a hilarious saying that states that just because the clothing manufacturer makes it in your size, doesn't mean that it is right for a person to wear it.
How about just being soft-spoken, gentle, easy to get along with, calm, pleasant, teachable, slow to anger, a person that is okay with being second in line, open the door for your neighbor (either man or woman), accepting, tolerant of all people.  You get the idea.
I'm talking about taking the lead by demonstrating that you have some class. Taking the time to look presentable, even if you're  just going to the store.  The pajamas and slippers can stay home.  The small details show that you care about yourself.
My grandma has always stated and firmly believes that, "birds of a feather, flock together."  Look at yourself and you'll see that this is true.
From today on, I will be a frequent classometer user.  I am going to try to measure the way that I live--without being an overly critical nut job.  I plan on taking a couple of small facets of my own life and measuring myself to make sure that I am being someone that people can look to and be positively lifted up.
It's up to each of us whether we want to be someone with class or if we're content with less than our potential dictates.  If there is room for improvement then take this as a challenge.  If you're satisfied with your efforts, then you are probably somebody who I already look up to. 
I want to be somebody that possesses a little class. 

I Know

On Monday evening, our family went to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, in Salt Lake City, Utah, to watch the movie, Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration.  The movie is produced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  It is a movie that highlights several parts of the life of Joseph Smith the Prophet.
Becky and I had gone to see it the week before on a day date.  I want to share some feelings that I had during that production.
I must first tell you, that the testimony that I gained of the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ was received with the knowledge of Joseph Smith as a true prophet of God as told to me by the Holy Spirit.  I know that the things that he said he saw are true.  I feel like it is important to gain the full understanding of his own efforts as a young fourteen year-old boy searching for sincere answers from God.

 "So, in accordance with this, my determination to ask of God, I retired to the woods to make the attempt. It was on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty. It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally.

After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction.

But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction—not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being—just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.

It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!"

Joseph Smith received an answer to the desires of his heart.

We are children of our Heavenly Father.  He loves us and will give us answers to our prayers.

As our family watched the film, my heart was moved, once more, by the outpouring of the Holy Ghost.  I know that Joseph Smith is a chosen prophet of God.  I know that we are currently led by a prophet of God.  Thomas S. Monson is that prophet who does the will of our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.  The Book of Mormon is a book of God.  Each one of us can gain a witness of its truthfulness by prayer to our Father, in the name of Christ.  We will grow closer to God by studying from its pages. 

I thank heaven for the personal knowledge I have gained.  I challenge all who read this to do the same thing.

When I was in the missionfield, Elder L. Tom Perry, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, challenged us missionaries to ask God for a confirmation of the truthfulness of the Gospel many times throughout our lives.  That confirmation keeps the converting knowledge fresh. 

I am thankful for divine knowledge.  It keeps me focused in my life.