GNP 3.0

Do you really want to be a leader?

2011-12-28T13:45:00.000-08:00

This is an article (from the Wall Street Journal, I believe) that I cut out a long time ago - see PDF. I thought it was a sobering account of what happens and what's important as you move up in organizations. Here is one excerpt:

Aspiring executives who wish to gauge their ultimate potential, or that of others, should ask instead: What level of leadership do they aspire to? And are they willing to invest the effort and make the sacrifices required to take on the responsibility of the position?

The most senior jobs present tasks that are massive, complex and full of conflict. The playing field and rules become less certain. Indeed, part of a leader's job is to shape these things.

Also, the further an executive rises, the more he or she must deal with high-caliber people who know how to get what they want, are difficult, strong-willed and have a sharp appetite for power.

San Diego vacation

2011-12-27T21:05:00.000-08:00

Last week, we took the family down to San Diego for a pre-Christmas vacation since the kids were out of school and I needed some time off from work. Here is what we did:

Saturday, December 17

Drive from Mountain View to San Diego - make great time on the road and then get stuck in crazy traffic in LA
Stop for dinner in Oceanside at the home of a friend from college.

Sunday, December 18

Attend church - and enjoy a wonderful Christmas program
Visit the San Diego temple and take photos
Visit the Mormon Battalion Historic Site - very cool with neat interactive technology
Watch NFL football at the hotel
View Christmas lights display in Chula Vista - very cool with over 55 homes involved

Monday, December 19

Visit the San Diego Zoo - we saw all the animals, attended a few shows, and took a trolly tour of the Christmas lights they had setup

Tuesday, December 20

Visit SeaWorld - the shows were by far the best part of SeaWorld (with Blue Horizons being our overall favorite)

Wednesday, December 21

Visit the USS Midway Museum - super-cool aircraft carrier with a neat self-guided audio tour; the boys also enjoyed answering questions to get their Junior Pilot wings
Attempt to visit The New Children's Museum - but it was closed
Attend the Poinsettia Bowl - the kids are really into football at the moment so we bought tickets to a college bowl game; the kids made a poster to try to get on TV but weren't successful; close and exciting game overall with TCU coming out on top; the TCU marching band leaders were also amusing during the game

Thursday, December 22

Visit San Diego Zoo Safari Park - cool to see animals in a setting closer to their natural habitat; got to see a rhino running for the first time; surprisingly, the garden trail was everyone's favorite part of the day; the cheetah run was over-hyped and over-crowded

Friday, December 23

Visit Cabrillo National Monument - great lookout point over San Diego and Coronado; the kids (especially AJ) enjoyed answering questions to become Junior Park Rangers
Drive to Coronado
Take the San Diego - Coronado Ferry round-trip - JD especially wanted to do this; beautiful day with nice views from the ferry
Visit Coronado Beach - threw the football for a little bit on the beach; we'll be sure to return another time when it's a bit warmer; beautiful
Visit Belmont Park - went on a bunch of rides as the grand finale; it was great that AJ is now tall enough to go on all the rides!

Saturday, December 24

Drive home from San Diego - didn't hit traffic anywhere (yeah!)

All in all, I thought it was a great trip. There were rough spots for sure but, on balance, I think everyone had an enjoyable time.

Why Common Sense is Uncommon

2011-12-27T11:13:00.000-08:00

I'm going through a bunch of old papers since I have some free time this week. One of the things that I came across were some notes from 18 months ago regarding a book I thought would be interesting to write. The working title at the time was "Why Common Sense Is Uncommon" or "Why Common Sense Isn't Common". I don't want to lose the notes so I'm posting them here in case I ever decide to return to this project.

Define "common sense" - likely lots of definitions of common sense and lots of different opinions regarding what it would be in a given situation
Why overriding parental instincts?
Why a bunch of 150 IQ people in a room make a 75 IQ decision?
Why we make things harder / more complicated than they need to be?
Why have we taken common sense or judgement out of a lot of processes or decisions? Whose definition of common sense?
IQ vs EQ
Why do we question our own judgement?
Peer pressure, keeping up with others, herd mentality
Why do we buy things we know we can't afford?
Why do we do things that we know going into it will end badly?
Why does something seem totally obvious and "common sense" to one person but not to others?
How can someone be really smart but lack common sense?
Find examples of big and small decisions / situations where common sense didn't prevail
Common sense guide to X
Why is it that a lot of management / business frameworks / books seem obvious / common sense when we see them but they weren't obvious before that?
Why isn't common sense common practice?
Occam's razor - simplest solution is usually the right one
Are there situations where a common sense approach / solution doesn't make sense?
Why do we make things more complicated than they need to be by making decisions by committee? Like big family trying to decide what to do. No one wants to make the decision so no decision is made or it's an amalgamation of everyone's ideas. Trying to please too many people.
Role of "following one's instincts" or "listening to one's gut" - when does it make sense, when can it get us into trouble and how do we know the signal is coming in clear vs our minds taking over and overriding our instinct / gut
Even if something is obvious or common sense, why don't we do it? Are we worried about conflict (like firing someone or changing their role? Are we worried about not having enough data or evidence to back up our decision if it goes bad?
Steve delC - a good theory is one that you attempt to disprove and can't

As I read back over these notes, this still seems like it would make for a good book. I'd be interested in what others think. Also, if someone takes this idea and turns it into a book before I can, please do me two favors: (1) make the book good and (2) mention me in the acknowledgments.

Top 5 Regrets People Make on their Deathbed

2011-06-05T18:59:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine posted this link on Facebook. I found it very meaningful so I am including it here on my blog for future reference. In case the page is taken down at some point, I am also copying the text in this page:

Top 5 Regrets People Make on their Deathbed
By Bronnie Ware (who worked for years nursing the dying)

For many years I worked in palliative care. My patients were those who had gone home to die. Some incredibly special times were shared. I was with them for the last three to twelve weeks of their lives.
People grow a lot when they are faced with their own mortality. I learnt never to underestimate someone’s capacity for growth. Some changes were phenomenal. Each experienced a variety of emotions, as expected, denial, fear, anger, remorse, more denial and eventually acceptance. Every single patient found their peace before they departed though, every one of them.

When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently, common themes surfaced again and again. Here are the most common five:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
This was the most common regret of all. When people realise that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people have had not honoured even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made.

It is very important to try and honour at least some of your dreams along the way. From the moment that you lose your health, it is too late. Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it.

2. I wish I didn’t work so hard.
This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children’s youth and their partner’s companionship. Women also spoke of this regret. But as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.

By simplifying your lifestyle and making conscious choices along the way, it is possible to not need the income that you think you do. And by creating more space in your life, you become happier and more open to new opportunities, ones more suited to your new lifestyle.

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result.

We cannot control the reactions of others. However, although people may initially react when you change the way you are by speaking honestly,in the end it raises the relationship to a whole new and healthier level. Either that or it releases the unhealthy relationship from your life. Either way, you win.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
Often they would not truly realise the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved.Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.

It is common for anyone in a busy lifestyle to let friendships slip.But when you are faced with your approaching death, the physical details of life fall away. People do want to get their financial affairs in order if possible. But it is not money or status that holds the true importance for them. They want to get things in order more for the benefit of those they love. Usually though, they are too ill and weary to ever manage this task. It is all comes down to love and relationships in the end. That is all that remains in the final weeks,love and relationships.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.
This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realise until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called ‘comfort’ of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have sillyness in their life again.
When you are on your deathbed, what others think of you is a long way from your mind. How wonderful to be able to let go and smile again,long before you are dying.
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originally posted at http://www.inspirationandchai.com/Regrets-of-the-Dying.html

Making it to the NFL

2010-12-02T21:37:00.000-08:00

I was reading an article in Sports Illustrated awhile ago about Jim Harbaugh (the head football coach at Stanford) and his brother who coaches in the NFL. This was my favorite quote from the entire article:

Once in a while, Jim Harbaugh asks his Stanford players to name the one thing you have to do to make an NFL team. The answers come quickly: You have to be talented. You have to work hard. Nope, Jim says. A lot of guys are talented and work hard and never make it. "The one thing you have to do to make an NFL team," he says, "is take another man's job away from him. And those men really like those jobs."

I think this principle applies in a number of other careers and situations that are competitive by their nature.

Don’t grab what you can’t hold on to

2010-12-01T08:09:00.000-08:00

This is an interesting story from the early days of the oil industry (as reported in this piece from Biofuels Digest).

I thought at the time it would be, therefore, useful to relate something of the character of the man who founded Saudi Aramco, Harry Deward Collier ... Collier was a marine engineer by training, who joined Standard Oil in 1903 when it became clear that the marine industry was going to completely convert over from coal to oil, and he took a leading part in that transition. His own father had participated in the transition from sail to steam. His grandfather had participated in the transition from the New England whalers to the great Yankee Clippers, as a fleet owner and china trader. From his own story, Henry Deward Collier understood the transitory nature of transportation technologies, the importance of thinking globally, the importance of China.

He had a little trick he would play. He would ask you, “Would you like a nickel?” This was back in the day when a nickel was worth something.

“Sure,” you’d say, “what do I have to do for it?”

“There is is, take it.” And he’d point to a nickel by the stove. What the victim didn’t know is that he’d have heated up the nickel, so it was burning hot, and when you picked it up you’d drop it right away.

“What the Sam Hill you do that for?” you’d say.

“Don’t grab what you can’t hold on to,” he’d answer. “Study the problem, make a tool, make a friend. if you do that, there’s nothing you can’t get a hold of and keep holding onto.”

This story makes me wonder what I'm grabbing for that I'm not prepared to actually hold on to. And, conversely, I wonder what I could (or should) be grabbing for if I only studied the problem, made a tool, and made a friend.

You are the Third Person

2010-11-13T07:41:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine forwarded this essay by Zig Ziglar to me. It's a good perspective.

Several years ago, I heard the statement that "every third person is either remarkably handsome and unusually bright, or amazingly beautiful and absolutely brilliant." I encourage you to make a mental note. The next two people you see, look them over real good. When you do, chances are excellent that you will come to the conclusion that it is neither one of them! That means it has to be you, if the formula is to hold true. When you think about it in these terms, I believe you will come to the conclusion that, yes, it does have to be you.

From this moment on, I encourage you to think of yourself as that "third person," and as that third person, I want to share with you some important considerations about yourself. Several billion people have walked this earth, but there never has been, nor will there ever be, a person exactly like you. Your uniqueness gives you real value.

Think about it like this: If man can take moldy bread and make penicillin out of it, think what an awesome God can make out of you. Listen to what St. Augustine said in 399 A.D. (and I paraphrase with this): Man travels hundreds of miles to gaze at the broad expanse of the ocean. He looks in awe at the heavens above. He stares in wonderment at the fields, the mountains, the rivers and the streams. And then he passes himself by without a thought -- God's most amazing creation. It is important that you think well, not egotistically, about yourself because the way you see yourself has a direct bearing on how you see and treat others. If you see yourself as happy, secure, self-sufficient and as a good friend, you'll attract happy, secure, self-sufficient, good friends.

To get along well with people requires an elimination of prejudice, which, in virtually every case, is circumstantial, based either on ignorance or never having had any real relationship with those of a different race or culture. This does not mean that I'm suggesting or even mildly hinting that you have to agree with everybody on everything. To do so would be to invite disaster in your life. But it does mean that you can disagree without being disagreeable. You can disagree and yet respect that person's right to believe as he or she believes. You can have a different opinion without denying the other person the right to have the opinion he or she has. When you adopt that attitude and take that approach, you will probably be amazed to discover on occasion that your friend's point of view was right and yours was wrong. That's a sobering thought.

When you take the right attitude toward another person, you not only avoid building a wall between the two of you, you also establish common ground and lay a solid foundation on which to build a relationship. It certainly is something to think about and something I have found to be very enlightening and beneficial.

I encourage you to replay the tapes of your life. Explore the number of times people who were "different" from you turned out to be really great people, who had opinions with which you disagreed but that turned out to be correct. Take the approach I'm suggesting and you will become a happier, healthier, friendlier, better person.

Don't be in a hurry

2010-06-26T16:09:00.000-07:00

When I was reading through the June 2010 issue of the Ensign, I was struck by an article called "Don't Be In A Hurry". Here are some relevant excerpts:

The year 1845 was a busy one for Latter-day Saints in Nauvoo, Illinois. Still mourning the violent death of the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Saints continued their efforts to complete the Nauvoo Temple, spread the gospel, and gather believers even as conflict with critics and dissenters hastened plans for an exodus to the West. On a Sunday in August 1845, Brigham Young (1801–77) paused from the demands of leadership to record a dream he’d had the previous night. “I dreamed … I saw Brother Joseph Smith,” he wrote, “and as I was going about my business, he said, ‘Brother Brigham, don’t be in a hurry.’” President Young said Joseph repeated the counsel twice more with “a degree of sharpness”: Brother Brigham, don’t be in a hurry. Brother Brigham, don’t be in a hurry...

Missionaries honor Nephi’s injunction every morning, consecrating their day to the Lord in prayer and study. What about the rest of us? Decades after that dream of Joseph, Brigham Young asked a congregation in Utah if they had prayed that morning as families. Observing that many had not, he proposed an all-too-familiar reason: “I was in too much of a hurry.” Then President Young gave us wise counsel. “Stop! Wait!” he pleaded, “When you get up in the morning, before you suffer yourselves to eat one mouthful of food, … bow down before the Lord, ask Him to forgive your sins, and protect you through the day, to preserve you from temptation and all evil, to guide your steps aright, that you may do something that day that shall be beneficial to the kingdom of God on the earth.” That counsel will bless our lives as it reminds us each morning to kneel in prayer before we tackle the tasks ahead...

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin (1917–2008) of the Quorum of the Twelve observed how easily we fill our lives with “appointments, meetings, and tasks” and then act frightened at the prospect of some quiet time. Why would that be? He feared that we might “feel that the busier we are, the more important we are—as though our busyness defines our worth.” On another occasion, he reminded us that “being busy is not necessarily being spiritual”—for in fact, noise and busyness can actually crowd out the still, small voice of the Spirit.

President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008) prescribed a remedy for this fever of busyness: meditation, or pondering, or introspection. President Hinckley recalled that his father “never ceased growing” because he made time for “thinking, meditating, [and] pondering.” You may have to turn off your TV, computer, cell phone, or MP3 player, but it’s worth it. As Sister Bonnie D. Parkin, former Relief Society general president, put it: “Take time to slow down and ponder so that you can feel the Lord’s love for you...”

“There seems to be little evidence,” Elder Richard L. Evans (1906–71) of the Quorum of the Twelve once said, “that the Creator of the universe was ever in a hurry. Everywhere, on this bounteous and beautiful earth … there is evidence of patient purpose and planning and working and waiting...”

Perhaps all this was summarized in eight words by the Psalmist long ago: “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).

In general, I'm in far too much of a hurry on a daily basis. I'm also in too much of a hurry to accomplish things that simply need time and patience to accomplish.

That's my boy

2010-06-18T16:15:00.000-07:00

Just got an interesting email from my son JD. He certainly doesn't lack in self-confidence although he needs to work on his spelling. =)

Subject: Don't look til fathers day!
Body: Hi dad,sorry the title is cindav silly. Just wanted to say Happy Fathers Day! I think your think your the 2nd best dad 1.me (future). I love you. JD

I'm sure JD will be a wonderful father in the future - much better than me I hope. Same goes for AJ.

Who's Awesome?

2010-03-11T12:16:00.001-08:00

Someone at work sent this image around as part of a larger message. Wanted to keep it for future reference. =)

Two Horses

2010-02-27T14:42:00.000-08:00

A friend sent this to me by email and I really liked it...

There is a place in the countryside with a field that has two horses in it.

From a distance, each horse looks like any other horse, but if you'll stop your car, or go walking by, you will notice something quite amazing....

Looking into the eyes of one horse will disclose that he is blind. His owner, however has chosen not to have him put down, and has made a good home for him.

This alone is amazing.

If you stand nearby and listen, you will hear the sound of a bell. Then looking around for the source of the sound, you will see that it comes from the smaller horse in the field.

Attached to the horse's halter is a small bell. It lets the blind friend know exactly where the other horse is, so he can follow.

As you stand and watch these two friends, you'll see that the horse with the bell is always checking on the blind horse, and that the blind horse will listen for the bell and then slowly walk to where the other horse is, completely trusting that he will not be led astray.

When the horse with the bell returns to the shelter of the barn each evening, it stops occasionally and looks back, making sure that his blind friend isn't too far behind to hear the bell.

Like the owners of these two horses, GOD does not throw us away just because we are not perfect, or because we have unique problems or challenges.

He watches over us and even brings others into our lives to help us when we are in need..

Sometimes, we are like the blind horse being guided by the little ringing bell of those whom God places in our lives.

Other times we are the guide horse, helping others to find their way....

Good friends are like that... You may not always see them, but you know they are always there.

Please listen for my bell and I'll listen for yours.

And remember... Be kinder than necessary, because

Everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

Live simply,

Love generously,

Care deeply,

Speak kindly......

Leave the rest to God

Old Farmer Advice

2009-12-09T21:43:00.000-08:00

A co-worker sent this to me recently. I especially like "If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'."

Old Farmer's Advice:
Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.
Keep skunks and bankers at a distance.
Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.
A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.
Words that soak into your ears are whispered...not yelled.
Meanness don't jes' happen overnight.
Forgive your enemies; it messes up their heads.
Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.
It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.
You cannot unsay a cruel word.
Every path has a few puddles.
When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.
The best sermons are lived, not preached.
Most of the stuff people worry about ain't never gonna happen anyway.
Don 't judge folks by their relatives.
Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
Live a good, honorable life.. Then when you get older and think back, you'll enjoy it a second time.
Don 't interfere with somethin' that ain't bothering you none.
Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a Rain dance.
If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.
Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.
The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin'.
Always drink upstream from the herd.
Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.
Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back in.
If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around.
Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.
Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.

Stopwatch application

2009-10-10T20:34:00.000-07:00

The other day at work, we had to do a presentation in a fixed amount of time. As part of the practice sessions for the presentation, we used this stopwatch application. Posting it here in case I need it in the future or in case others are interested.

Family Night Notebook

2009-10-10T20:19:00.001-07:00

When I was reading through the June 2009 issue of the Ensign, I pulled out this tip:

You're thumbing through a Church magazine and see a great lesson idea. But by Monday night you've either forgotten about it or can't find it without a lot of searching. It's a good thing there's an easy solution: sumply cut out or copy the article or picture and slip it into a binder or notebook kept specifically for lesson ideas. Using a few tab markers, you can easily organize a growing collection of lesson material by basic gospel topics.

Early in our marriage, my husband had an erratic work schedule that left him little time to prepare family home evening lessons. But with the binder, he could quickly select a topic he felt we needed to study. As a result, we enjoyed consistent lessons and established a good Monday-night habit. Now that our children are old enough to take turns leading family home evening, we still have plenty of lesson ideas in the binder if they choose to use it.

It's easy to update our lesson notebook whenever we read the Church magazines. We cut, copy, and save as we go so we are always prepared for family night.

Seems pretty easy. Perhaps we can get a binder going and make FHE a more regular thing in our house. (Note: the fact that it's not a regular thing is my fault ... need to work on that)

What have you done with your life?

2009-10-02T09:56:00.001-07:00

I was just going through a stack of papers in my work bag and came across a church program from June 14, 2009. On it, I had jotted down a brief story that one of the speakers shared since I felt it offered an important perspective on life. I won't get it totally right here but you'll get the message. In her talk, the speaker told the story of a woman who had had a number of hardships in her life ("bad" parents, many challenges, etc). After she died, she went before Christ and He asked her "what have you done with your life?" She got really aggravated with the question and pointed to all the hardships and obstacles from her life. Then Christ clarified, "what have you done with your life with what you've been given?" And she understood.

Ya right!

2009-07-29T15:16:00.001-07:00

Sometimes I get down on things but it's important to keep perspective, remember our blessings, and realize that things could be way worse. Here's a humorous cartoon that a co-worker that sent me as a reminder.

LDS material for kids

2009-07-28T09:52:00.000-07:00

I just came across two resources for kids that I thought I'd file away for future reference. The first are illustrated scripture stories and the second is the Friend web site. Here is another web site that my wife used the other day.

The Mormons in India

2009-07-27T21:42:00.000-07:00

Just read an interesting article regarding Mormons in India. There are about 7,500 Mormons in the country - a very small minority of the population but continuing to grow. I was also surprised to hear of statements that there will be a temple in New Delhi at some point in the future.

More Holiness Give Me

2009-07-22T16:05:00.001-07:00

Hymn #131 in the LDS Hymn Book is called "More Holiness Give Me". Here are the lyrics:

More holiness give me, More strivings within,

More patience in suff'ring, More sorrow for sin,

More faith in my Savior, More sense of his care,

More joy in his service, More purpose in prayer.

More gratitude give me, More trust in the Lord,

More pride in his glory, More hope in his word,

More tears for his sorrows, More pain at his grief,

More meekness in trial, More praise for relief.

More purity give me, More strength to o'ercome,

More freedom from earthstains, More longing for home.

More fit for the kingdom, More used would I be,

More blessed and holy--More, Savior, like thee.

I was just reminded of this hymn by an old church program that I found in a stack of papers. I had marked the closing hymn on the program since the lyrics accurately captured what I often long for these days.

Hope: The Misunderstood Sister

2009-07-03T14:19:00.001-07:00

In the June 2009 issue of the Ensign, there was a good article entitled "Hope: The Misunderstood Sister". The by-line for the article is "Hope is anything but wishful. It is expectation based on experience." Here are some excerpts:

I think of them as three famous sisters whose names are frequently linked, always in the same order: Faith, Hope, and Charity. They are mentioned several times in the New Testament and with remarkable frequency in the Book of Mormon.

Of the three, Faith may be the most well known and popular, the one whose companionship is sought most often. She’s active and energetic, definitely the can-do type. Faith can move mountains, if necessary.

I picture Charity as being modest and refined, beautiful and gracious. In her presence you feel genuinely loved and accepted. She’s unfailingly kind and generous, patient, empathetic, aware of every need, and responsive without being asked. How could you not want the companionship of someone like Charity?

Then there’s Hope, who seems to have a problem with the way people perceive her. It may be her name and the way it’s commonly used: “I hope the car passes inspection.” Or, “I hope the weather will be nice for the wedding.” Used this way, the word hope is the verbal equivalent of keeping your fingers crossed. Consequently, many seem to think Hope is unsure, even fickle—she may or may not grace you with her companionship. But surely that’s not the kind of hope our Father in Heaven commands us to have. Nor would it be the kind of hope our Savior offers...

When we endure tribulation with faith and patience, what we experience is the Savior’s awareness of us and His love for us. We experience them through the ministrations of the Holy Ghost, the Comforter. We receive this witness after the trial of our faith (see Ether 12:6).

In my own life, when I patiently endure trials, the Savior, who took upon Himself all of our ills and sorrows (see Alma 7:11–12), ministers to me through the Spirit. I experience the Savior’s tender mercies. My trials may continue, but having taken upon me the yoke of Christ, I find Him sharing my yoke, making my burdens bearable, and giving me hope. I then have strength to endure. I have assurance that all will be made right, not just in eternity but also for eternity. Hope is anything but wishful. It is expectation based on experience.

I see Hope more clearly now. She is serene. Her eyes have the deep, knowing look of someone well acquainted with sorrow, the luminosity of recently being wet with tears. Hope has the confidence of one who clearly sees a bright future even when the next hours seem fog shrouded. Hope is steady and strong, a friend I am glad to have beside me during my own trials.

Run and Not Be Weary

2009-07-03T14:17:00.001-07:00

In the June 2009 issue of the Ensign, there was a good article containing testimonies of the Word of Wisdom.

Home-teaching - June 2009

2009-07-03T14:02:00.000-07:00

For June, the home-teaching message in the Ensign was entitled "Prayer and the Blue Horizon" (link). Here are the excerpts that I circled:

In order to get an airplane off the ground, you must create lift. In aerodynamics, lift happens when air passes over the wings of an airplane in such a way that the pressure underneath the wing is greater than the pressure above the wing. When the upward lift exceeds the downward pull of gravity, the plane rises from the ground and achieves flight.

In a similar way, we can create lift in our spiritual life. When the force that is pushing us heavenward is greater than the temptations and distress that drag us downward, we can ascend and soar into the realm of the Spirit...

Prayer is one of the principles of the gospel that provides lift. Prayer has the power to elevate us from our worldly cares, to lift us up through clouds of despair and darkness into a bright and clear horizon...

Prayers that ascend beyond the ceiling are those that are heartfelt and avoid trite repetitions or words spoken with little thought. Our prayers should spring from our deepest yearning to be one with our Father in Heaven ... If you ever feel you cannot pray, that is the time you definitely need to pray, exercising faith...

Are prayers answered? I testify that they are. Can we receive divine help, wisdom, and support from heavenly realms? Again, I testify with certainty that such is the case ... The answers to our prayers come in the Lord’s due time...

Daily simple, sincere, and mighty prayers lift our lives to a higher spiritual altitude. In our prayers we praise God, give thanks to Him, confess weaknesses, petition needs, and express deep devotion to our Heavenly Father. As we make this spiritual effort in the name of Jesus Christ, the Redeemer, we are endowed with increased inspiration, revelation, and righteousness, which bring the brightness of heaven into our lives...

In the same way that aerodynamic lift can transport us above the outer storms of the world, I know that the principles of spiritual lift can take us above the inner storms of life.

Home-teaching

2009-07-03T13:52:00.000-07:00

In the LDS Church, every family is assigned a pair of "home teachers" who are responsible for their temporal and spirtual welfare - more on this topic here. It's a responsibility that I try to take very seriously. Writing about it briefly here mostly to archive that link.

Home-teaching - May 2009

2009-05-04T09:31:00.000-07:00

For May, I selected this General Conference talk as my home-teaching message (link). Here are the excerpts that I highligted:

True faith must be centered in Jesus Christ. “Faith is a principle of action and of power” (Bible Dictionary, 670). It requires us to do, not merely to believe. Faith is a spiritual gift from God that comes through the Holy Ghost. It requires a correct understanding and knowledge of Jesus Christ, His divine attributes and perfect character, His teachings, Atonement, Resurrection, and priesthood power. Obedience to these principles develops complete trust in Him and His ordained servants and assurance of His promised blessings ...

“Strong faith is developed by obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ” (Bible Dictionary, 669). Elder Bruce R. McConkie taught: “Faith is a gift of God bestowed as a reward for personal righteousness. It is always given when righteousness is present, and the greater the measure of obedience to God’s laws the greater will be the endowment of faith” (Mormon Doctrine, 2nd ed. [1966], 264). If we desire more faith, we must be more obedient ...

Personal righteousness is a choice. Faith is a gift from God, and one possessed of it can receive enormous spiritual power ... Faith and fear cannot coexist. One gives way to the other ...

We do have a choice. We get what we focus on consistently. Because there is an opposition in all things, there are forces that erode our faith. Some are the result of Satan’s direct influence. But for others, we have no one but ourselves to blame. These stem from personal tendencies, attitudes, and habits we can learn to change. I will refer to these influences as the “Six Destructive Ds.” As I do, consider their influence on you or your children.

First is doubt. Doubt is not a principle of the gospel. It does not come from the Light of Christ or the influence of the Holy Ghost. Doubt is a negative emotion related to fear. It comes from a lack of confidence in one’s self or abilities. It is inconsistent with our divine identity as children of God.

Doubt leads to discouragement. Discouragement comes from missed expectations. Chronic discouragement leads to lower expectations, decreased effort, weakened desire, and greater difficulty feeling and following the Spirit (see Preach My Gospel [2004], 10). Discouragement and despair are the very antithesis of faith.

Discouragement leads to distraction, a lack of focus. Distraction eliminates the very focus the eye of faith requires. Discouragement and distraction are two of Satan’s most effective tools, but they are also bad habits.

Distraction leads to a lack of diligence, a reduced commitment to remain true and faithful and to carry on through despite hardship and disappointment. Disappointment is an inevitable part of life, but it need not lead to doubt, discouragement, distraction, or lack of diligence.

If not reversed, this path ultimately leads to disobedience, which undermines the very basis of faith. So often the result is disbelief, the conscious or unconscious refusal to believe.

The scriptures describe disbelief as the state of having chosen to harden one’s heart. It is to be past feeling.

These Six Destructive Ds—doubt, discouragement, distraction, lack of diligence, disobedience, and disbelief—all erode and destroy our faith. We can choose to avoid and overcome them.

Challenging times require greater spiritual power. Consider carefully the Savior’s promise: “If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me” (Moroni 7:33).

Home-teaching - April 2009

2009-05-01T17:57:00.001-07:00

Each month, I print out the home-teaching message from the Ensign and mark the parts of the article (or talk) that I think are the most pertinent. It occurred to me that it might be useful to capture those excerpts on my blog so I'm going to do it from here forward. The home-teaching message for April was from President Henry B. Eyring and it's called "Teaching True Doctrine" (link). The portions that I highlighted are:

There has been a war between light and darkness, between good and evil, since before the world was created. The battle still rages, and the casualties seem to be increasing. All of us have family members we love who are being buffeted by the forces of the destroyer, who would make all of God’s children miserable. For many of us, there have been sleepless nights. We have tried to add every force for good we can to the powers swirling around the people who are at risk. We have loved them. We have set the best example we could. We have pled in prayer for them. A wise prophet long ago gave us counsel about another force which we may at times underestimate and thus use too little ...

Alma thought it was expedient that they should try the virtue of the word of God” (Alma 31:5). The word of God is the doctrine taught by Jesus Christ and by His prophets ...

The need to open eyes and hearts tells us how we must teach doctrine. Doctrine gains its power as the Holy Ghost confirms that it is true. We prepare those we teach, as best we can, to receive the quiet promptings of the still, small voice. That takes at least some faith in Jesus Christ. It takes at least some humility, some willingness to surrender to the Savior’s will for us. The person you would help may have little of either, but you can urge that he or she desire to believe. More than that, you can take confidence from another of the powers of doctrine. Truth can prepare its own way. Simply hearing the words of doctrine can plant the seed of faith in the heart. And even a tiny seed of faith in Jesus Christ invites the Spirit ...

Because we need the Holy Ghost, we must be cautious and careful not to go beyond teaching true doctrine ... One of the surest ways to avoid even getting near false doctrine is to choose to be simple in our teaching ... We can teach even a child to understand the doctrine of Jesus Christ. It is therefore possible, with God’s help, to teach the saving doctrine simply.

We have the greatest opportunity with the young. The best time to teach is early, while children are still immune to the temptations of their mortal enemy and long before the words of truth may be harder for them to hear in the noise of their personal struggles ...

The question should not be whether we are too tired to prepare to teach doctrine or whether it would be better to draw a child closer by just having fun or whether the child is beginning to think that we preach too much. The question must be, “With so little time and so few opportunities, what words of doctrine from me will fortify them against the attacks on their faith which are sure to come?” The words you speak today may be the ones they remember. And today will soon be gone ...

Two doubts may creep into your mind. You may wonder if you know the doctrine well enough to teach it. And if you have already tried to teach it, you may wonder why you can’t see much of good effect.

Seldom right but never in doubt

2009-04-15T16:23:00.000-07:00

Our CEO at work has a great saying. He says that there are some people who are "seldom right but never in doubt". Certainly, self-confidence is important. But sometimes it can hold us back from approaching situations with an open-mind, listening attentively, and being willing to say "I don't know" or "I trust your opinion on this more than mine".

What does $1 trillion look like?

2009-04-15T12:40:00.000-07:00

A little while ago, my brother-in-law DE posted me to this interesting analysis that helps put into perspective what $1 trillion (i.e., the rough size of our stimulus package) looks like. Scary stuff.

Made simple

2009-04-15T10:49:00.000-07:00

I love presentations or videos that can take a subject that is complicated or intimidating and blow it down into terms that are easy to understand and approachable. Here is one such video that my brother-in-law DE sent me awhile back regarding the credit crisis.

Here is a different video that explains what to expect when attending a Mormon church service.

In general, I'm trying to get better at simplifying what I say and presenting in a way that gets to the essence of the topic but doesn't overwhelm people with additional information that they don't need.

I shouldn't find this so funny

2009-04-14T18:10:00.001-07:00

Every time I see this Dilbert comic, it makes me laugh. It was originally published on February 27, 2009. I really love the fact that my wife is able (and willing) to be home right now with the kids. I wish I could do it too but I'm just not cut out for it. Perhaps that will change over time.

The Functional Family

2009-04-14T14:56:00.001-07:00

On a flight today, I read through this article from the February 2009 issue of Ensign magazine. Examples abound of dysfunctional families. This author tried to lay out some principles of functional families based on his experience as a professional counselor. He was also trying to provide some specificity regarding how to implement what the Lord has commanded us to do in D&C 93:40: "I have commanded you to bring up your children in light and truth." Here are relevant excerpts from the article:

In the functional family, parents focus their energy on teaching their children correct principles and allowing them to exercise their agency ... Sometimes as parents we slip into the role of a manager seeking to control our children because we expect a desired result. The problem with this approach is that children resist coercion or compulsion, especially as they get older. We will be more effective the less we act as managers and the more we act as coaches, consultants, and guides. That means that we teach our children correct principles and, as their maturity and experience allow, continue to grant them greater latitude to make choices and reap the consequences.

In the functional family, parents intentionally strengthen their families. This means that you regularly and privately ponder each child’s needs and assess them against the overall needs of the family ... Intentionally focusing on your family also means you think about the impact of what you say or do not say to your children. As parents, you begin sending messages about how you feel about your children from the minute they are born. These messages include your words, actions, and attitudes, whether you mean to or not. All of these messages shape how children come to view themselves.

In the functional family, relationships are of supreme importance. It is a good idea to regularly examine the condition of each relationship in the family ... One thing I’ve learned is that relationships usually don’t get better accidentally; rather, they improve when we make that result a priority.

Try to invest time in the relationship in obvious ways. Here are some things I’ve tried that may work for you: talk together; play together; spend one-on-one time together; send letters, cards, or notes sharing your affection; give compliments; do something fun and unexpected; say, “I love you”; listen to the other person; ask him or her to help you on a project; share personal feelings. All of these require that you personally get engaged in things the other person is doing. Afterward, talk about your efforts with your spouse during your family discussion time. You might be surprised at how far-reaching your positive influence can be.

In the functional family, parents are active teachers ... We need to consider what we teach and how we teach. For example, when holding family discussion time, you might ask, “What do we want to teach in our family in the next few months? How, when, and where do we want to teach it?” Consider writing the answers down as family goals and posting them prominently so you remember them. Then follow through with your goals.

What else might you teach? Anything you think your family needs to learn. Some topics include courtesy, honesty, prayer, scripture study, finances and getting out of debt, mutual respect in the family, how to use time effectively, how to manage angry feelings, the importance of education, and the need for all family members to do their share within the home.

In the functional family, parents lead by example. Children are always watching and observing our behavior, whether we know it or not ... Remember, our children want their parents to set an example of a person who has a clear sense of direction on personal as well as spiritual matters. We as parents need to live worthy of the guidance of the Holy Ghost at all times, especially when things get tough.

Finally, in the functional family, parents teach their children faith in our Heavenly Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ ... “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” states, “Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Remember to be patient with yourself and your family members. Relationships usually improve in stages, not overnight. Strengthening them requires time and effort. However, as you strive to have a functional family based on the teachings of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and His restored gospel, you will provide your family the best opportunity you can to grow closer together and to face challenges with a greater sense of harmony and happiness.

As a family, I think we're doing a reasonable job on these fronts but there is plenty of room for improvement - particularly by me.

You will succeed if you keep trying

2009-04-14T14:35:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine sent this yesterday via email. It's exactly what I needed to hear. I've noticed that I've been getting really impatient with things (myself, others, and God) recently - when, in reality, I just need to keep at it and give things more time to come to fruition. RF, thanks again for sending!

Keep Watering Your Bamboo Tree - Eric Aronson

In the Far East, there is a tree called the Chinese bamboo tree. This remarkable tree is different from most trees in that it doesn't grow in the usual fashion. While most trees grow steadily over a period of years, the Chinese bamboo tree doesn't break through the ground for the first four years. Then, in the fifth year, an amazing thing happens - the tree begins to grow at an astonishing rate. In fact, in a period of just five weeks, a Chinese bamboo tree can grow to a height of 90 feet. It's almost as if you can actually see the tree growing before your very eyes.

Well, I'm convinced that life often works in a similar way. You can work for weeks, months and even years on your dream with no visible signs of progress and then, all of the sudden, things take off. Your business becomes profitable beyond your wildest dreams. Your marriage becomes more vibrant and passionate than you ever thought it could be. Your contribution to your church, social organization and community becomes more significant than you have ever imagined.

Yet, all of this requires one thing - faith. The growers of the Chinese bamboo tree have faith that if they keep watering and fertilizing the ground, the tree will break through. Well, you must have the same kind of faith in your bamboo tree, whether it is to run a successful business, win a Pulitzer Prize, raise well-adjusted children, or what have you. You must have faith that if you keep making the calls, honing your craft, reading to your children, reaching out to your spouse or asking for donations, that you too will see rapid growth in the future.

This is the hard part for most of us. We get so excited about the idea that's been planted inside of us that we simply can't wait for it to blossom. Therefore, within days or weeks of the initial planting, we become discouraged and begin to second guess ourselves.

Sometimes, in our doubt, we dig up our seed and plant it elsewhere, in hopes that it will quickly rise in more fertile ground. We see this very often in people who change jobs every year or so. We also see it in people who change churches, organizations and even spouses in the pursuit of greener pastures. More often than not, these people are greatly disappointed when their tree doesn't grow any faster in the new location.

Other times, people will water the ground for a time but then, quickly become discouraged. They start to wonder if it's worth all of the effort. This is particularly true when they see their neighbors having success with other trees. They start to think, "What am I doing trying to grow a bamboo tree? If I had planted a lemon tree, I'd have a few lemons by now." These are the people who return to their old jobs and their old ways. They walk away from their dream in exchange for a "sure thing."

Sadly, what they fail to realize is that pursuing your dream is a sure thing if you just don't give up. So long as you keep watering and fertilizing your dream, it will come to fruition. It may take weeks. It may take months. It may even take years, but eventually, the roots will take hold and your tree will grow. And when it does, it will grow in remarkable ways.

We've seen this happen so many times. Henry Ford had to water his bamboo tree through five business failures before he finally succeeded with the Ford Motor Company. Richard Hooker had to water his bamboo tree for seven years and through 21 rejections by publishers until his humorous war novel, M*A*S*H became a runaway bestseller, spawning a movie and one of the longest-running television series of all-time. Another great bamboo grower was the legendary jockey Eddie Arcaro. Arcaro lost his first 250 races as a jockey before going on to win 17 Triple Crown races and 554 stakes races for total purse earnings of more than $30 million.

Well, you have a bamboo tree inside of you just waiting to break through. So keep watering and believing and you too will be flying high before you know it.

I Know That My Redeemer Lives

2009-04-06T23:46:00.000-07:00

This is probably my favorite gospel hymn right now. I can't get it out of my head.

The words of this song bear a powerful testimony that Jesus Christ lives and blesses our lives in so many ways - both in this life and the life to come.

I know that my Redeemer lives.

What comfort this sweet sentence gives!

He lives, he lives, who once was dead.

He lives, my ever-living Head.

He lives to bless me with his love.

He lives to plead for me above.

He lives my hungry soul to feed.

He lives to bless in time of need...

He lives to silence all my fears.

He lives to wipe away my tears.

He lives to calm my troubled heart.

He lives all blessings to impart...

He lives and grants me daily breath.

He lives and I shall conquer death.

He lives my mansion to prepare.

He lives to bring me safely there...

He lives! All glory to his name!

He lives, my Savior, still the same.

Oh, sweet the joy this sentence gives:

"I know that my Redeemer lives!"

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir performance above is great. I also really like this individual recording - and disagree with the person who put it together and thought her singing was bad.

Lou Holtz Quotes

2009-03-13T20:17:00.000-07:00

I just discovered this quote by Lou Holtz: "When all is said and done, more is said than done." So very true.

The lovable sevens

2009-03-10T21:09:00.001-07:00

I just got this email update from Babycenter as part of their age-tailored newsletter:

The lovable sevens
Congrats! You're entering one of the most rewarding phases of parenthood. Now your child requires less hands-on supervision and care, but he still looks up to you for guidance and support. His curiosity, excitement, and eagerness to learn make him a charming companion in the year ahead. His academic interests begin to take shape, too. Growing exposure to science, writing, math, and other subjects will give you a sense of where his natural interests lie.

So true. I remember talking to a guy on a plane once. He had a 9 year old and a 7 year old if I remember correctly. He said it was a great set of ages since the boys were old enough that they could do lots of interesting things but still young enough that it was cool to do stuff with their parents. Something to look forward to over the next couple of years before the pre-teen and teen years hit.

Old Testament

2009-03-09T21:19:00.000-07:00

With a lot of trepidation, I've decided to try to tackle the Old Testament. I've read the New Testament, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price. So, all I'm missing is the Old Testament to have made it through all the scriptures (for a first time). That being said, the Old Testament is about as long as all the rest of those scriptures put together. I've also heard that it has some parts that are ... well .. slow ... and sometimes a bit confusing. That's where the trepidation comes in. But, if you're going to claim to believe in something (such as the Holy Bible), I think it's important to be familiar with everything in there and have actually read it.

I have a slight twist on this. About two and a half years ago, I signed up for a Hebrew Scriptures class (see prior post). The text book for that course was The Old Testament: An Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. I'm planning to read that book as I'm going along to help me understand the material. And, rather than read the whole Old Testament, I'm planning to listen to most of it in the car while driving to and from work. I figure that will put my 90 minutes of commuting each day to better use than it is right now. As part of that, I just downloaded 64 hours, 44 minutes, and 36 seconds of audio from the LDS MP3 site (link) and I bought a portable MP3 player (link) that I can plug into my new car stereo (link) through the auxillary jack.

We'll see how it all goes. I've listened to books on tape before but not scriptures. I'm curious to see how much of the material I can retain that way. Assuming 90 minutes of commuting per day, in theory, I could get through the entire Old Testament in 43 working days (or about two months). I suspect it will take longer than that but hopefully I can get it done by my birthday in June. If nothing else, it will be an interesting experiment.

Wish me luck. And let me know if you have any favorite parts of the Old Testament or if you want to do this with me. I'll understand if I don't get any volunteers. =)

The Fourth Watch

2009-03-08T21:36:00.000-07:00

I recently rediscovered this CD: "The Fourth Watch: Receiving Divine Help When Your Prayers Seem Unanswered" (buy, sample/download). One of the missionaries let me borrow it about a year and a half ago and I made a copy. I just listened to it in my car. It's only about 74 minutes so it goes pretty quickly. If you've ever wondered why God hasn't answered your prayers and why He isn't listening, I would wholeheartedly suggest you listening to this talk. There are plenty of LDS-specific examples but the core material is taken from the New Testament and the messages are universal.

Here is one excerpt that I just transcribed since I think it will be meaningful to someone that I love very much.

Sometimes I think the answers don’t come or the blessings we desire don’t come or the trials don’t end because there is no place for God to put the answer yet. I call it a “holding place”. There isn’t a holding place for the answer. And life and experience has to carve the holding place so He can put it. But He hears our prayers …

When I was just a baby, my father – because of concerns in his own life and challenges that he was having – left our family. And I was therefore raised by my mother alone – my sisters and I. As I was growing up, my father had very little to do with us as children. I know he was working with things in his own life, but his decisions created certain challenges and hardships for my mother, my sisters, and for myself.

At age 14 or 15, if you were in my situation and knelt down and said “Father in heaven, help me be at peace concerning my father leaving us and really having nothing to do with us, help me forgive my father”. No answer at age 14 or 15. 20, 21 comes. Same prayers, no answer. 25, 26. Same prayers, no answer. 30, 31, 33, 34 … One day I was asked to prepare a talk on families and I thought "well, I will speak about my mother". My mother was a saint. In my eyes, she could do no wrong. So I would talk about my mother and how she raised us. But the Spirit seemed to whisper “speak about your father”. And I thought “what am I going to speak about my father?” I had hardly anything to do with my father growing up. But the Spirit seemed to urge that I think about him.

Just at that moment, my two sons – I have three but only had two at the time. I was married, I had two daughters and then two boys. Just at that moment, my two sons walked into the room. One was about six, the other was around two. And they stood in front of me – just stood there staring at me. And I looked at those two boys and all at once the Spirit just flooded my mind with wonderful memories of things that I had shared with those boys. We’re told that your life passes before you just before you die and you see it all at once. It was that kind of experience. All the simple little experiences – none of them were major – carving Halloween pumpkins, trick-or-treating, Christmas morning, listening to their prayers, first Primary talks, the puppy, walks by the pond to see the turtles, piggy-back rides, reading them stories at night, catching a fish out of the same hole I caught my first fish at the ranch, taking them on a horseback ride. All these little simple, tiny little everyday memories that I shared in those years with my sons. And then the Spirit said, “I am now ready to answer your question. Now that you are a father, now that you know a father’s love, would you be the son who lost his father or the father who lost his son?”

Now, when I heard that, I just began to weep. I just sobbed. My wife came into the room. I hugged those two boys. Just hugged them and cried. Not for me, for my father. Because I knew what he missed. He doesn’t know what he missed – there’s a mercy in that. I knew what he missed. And I knew it was a greater tragedy to be the father who lost the son than the son who lost the father …

Now, why didn’t God give me that answer at 15? Or 21? Or 25? Or when my daughters were born? He needed to wait until I was a father of sons and had enough experiences with my boys to understand what a sweet thing it was to be a father and share things with sons. The holding place was carved in my heart. And as soon as I could hold the answer, He gave it to me.

I know that many of us struggle with the question of whether our prayers are being heard and whether God cares about us. Without equivocation, I will testify that God cares about each of His children deeply, that He hears each and every one of our prayers, and gives us the best set of experiences - at precisely the right time - to help us grow and develop (even though we might not always appreciate or agree with His plan or timing).

A story about the Houston Temple

2009-02-23T23:19:00.000-08:00

This is a story that was forwarded to me via email. I found it interesting so I'm posting it here for future reference. The author is unknown.

A few months after my accident, I got a call from a headhunter telling me that he had a position for which he wanted me to interview. I was a little surprised by the call since I wasn't actively looking for a job at the time. As a matter of fact, I was still learning to walk again and use my reconstructed hands. I politely declined and thought that was it. It wasn't!

The man kept calling me and every time I told him why I was unable to accept a job at the moment, he kept telling me that it wasn't important. After a while I decided to go on the interview. If nothing else, it would stop the annoying phone calls every couple of days.

The interview was with one of the largest HVAC contractors in Houston. I've never worked for a contractor before and, quite frankly, contractors and engineers often find themselves at complete odds with each other. I knew for a fact that, in my years of experience, I had been in more than one shouting match with a few project managers at this firm.

The interviewer brought me into a conference room and expressed his thanks for me coming in. He told me that I had come recommended to him as someone uniquely qualified for the job he had. He described the job and, I had to admit, it sounded like a pretty good gig. As a matter of fact, if I had to describe my dream job, this would be it.

I started asking questions about the firm...what kind of projects they were working on and so forth. They were one of the biggest contractors in Houston and so he ran down a pretty impressive resume of projects. Then he said, "Oh...and we're doing this church. It's the strangest church you've ever seen" I'd designed some pretty strange churches in my time. One of them was made entirely of pink glass. When you're especially bored some time, you should try and run down the thermal transfer properties of pink glass. If you find out, get back to me on it because I never was able to figure it out.

The interviewer continued with his description of the strange church. "Another weird thing is that they're spending WAYYYY too much money on this thing. You know how, whenever we do a church, we're asked to figure out ways to cut costs? Well, not on this job. In fact, they keep asking us for ways we can make it even better."

(It's called 'value engineering'. It happens on almost every job when the owner gets hit with the sticker price of the project and we have to go back and try and work with contractors to hold down prices and yet still keep in a modicum of quality…that's where the shouting matches usually occur. Churches are especially notorious at this game and the end result is usually a facade of flash over substance. You build this really impressive looking church and pray that the next big wind won't come along and blow it all down.)

Then the interviewer said something that sealed the deal. "...and the strangest thing of all is that we're not going to even be allowed back in this church to fix any problems. Only members with a special piece of paper will be allowed in."

I fished into my wallet and pulled out my temple recommend, "Is this the piece of paper you're talking about?", I asked.

And so I went to work on helping to build the Houston Temple.

The first job meeting was one of the most bizarre experiences of my life. We all met in a little shack on the temple building site. It was an odd sensation to look out at earth moving equipment shoving mounds of dirt around and get tears in your eyes.

I didn't tell anyone at the meeting that I was LDS. For one reason, I didn't want them to think I was going to come off as a know-it-all. Another reason is that there were some pretty strong protests against building this temple and I wanted to see where everyone stood on the issue. You kind of want to know where all the land mines are before you go traipsing off into the clover.

You may or may not know this but the church sends its own project manager to the site when a temple is built. It's his job to make sure that the specifications are followed in every way. As it happened, the church's representative, a man named Leon, was called away to Salt Lake and so the project manager for the general contractor got up and started the meeting.

"Leon's been called away to Salt Lake and so I'll be running the meeting." He looked around and his eye settled on the Plumbing Contractor, "Gill, why don't you offer us an opening prayer?"

My jaw dropped. First of all, prayers just aren't the standard way that construction meetings are called to order. And another thing is that, I'd known Gill for fifteen years and anyone even mildly acquainted with the man was aware that he was incapable of stringing four words together without cussing twice.

"This is going to be some prayer", I thought...it was. Gill bowed his head and folded his hands and gave a prayer like he'd been giving them in sacrament meeting his entire life. We were grateful for the opportunity to work on the temple. We were mindful of the sacrifices of The Saints. We prayed for safety and harmony among the builders and we consecrated and dedicated our actions to The Lord.

Gill ended his prayer and the General Contractor went on with the agenda. I wasn't really paying attention, however, because I was still dumbstruck, staring at Gill, and wondering what had happened to him. I was still staring at Gill when the agenda came to me and I was asked to introduce myself to the group.

There was a bit of a pause when I got caught still staring, openmouthed, at Gill. Then everyone started to laugh.

"It's in the specifications", explained the general contractor, "we have to pray before every meeting"

Knowing the crowd, I asked, "And none of you tried to negotiate out of that?"

"Well, we did grumble for a while and then Leon started making us sing an opening hymn as well."

I wished I had accepted the job sooner, I might have been able to see that.

I soon found out that I didn't need to tell anyone I was LDS, they all knew and many times a contractor would sidle up to me to ask me something about my religion or the significance of something in the temple.

"What's up with the twelve cows and the big Jacuzzi?", one would ask.

"Is that Gabriel up there with a trumpet?" (Oh...little known fact but if you'll take a pair of binoculars with you and get far enough away so you can see it from the proper angle, you'll notice a lightening rod sticking out of Moroni's head.)

I took to bringing my scriptures with me so that I could explain the significance of different things and point to their Biblical foundation.

One question was my personal favorite, "where's the counting room?". Remember the churches I told you about that I'd designed? Well one thing that never got 'value engineered' was the counting room. It was where they kept and counted the donations and it was always built like a bank vault.

"We don't have a counting room in temples", I said."

"Why not?"

"We don't take in any donations at the temple"

"You mean to tell me that you put all this money into a building and you don't ever get a nickel out of it?"

The contractor went away shaking his head. No doubt wondering how anyone as foolish as these Mormons had ever amassed enough money to build such wonderful buildings.

Of all my experiences, only one was what I would have categorized as 'odd'. With an opening prayer at each meeting, design conferences went about pretty much like PEC meetings. There was a spirit of brotherhood that just wasn't normally present in construction shacks.

One day, however, the meeting got a little out of hand. Some voices were raised and anger entered the room. When it made its appearance, I was surprised to notice a letdown that I recognized as The Spirit leaving the room. It made me sad. I looked about the table and I could tell that others were experiencing the same letdown.

It was then that the copier behind me started spitting out blank sheets of paper. Nobody was at the copier and yet it churned out about a dozen sheets of paper and then stopped. It took everyone by surprise and it completely diffused the argument that was going on. Someone made a small joke, everyone laughed and the meeting went on. Little by little I felt the warmth of The Spirit return.

After the meeting, I was going over some items with the General Contractor. I had to make a few copies and so I went to the copier. There was a sign over the copier instructing the sub-contractors to write down the number of copies they make so that their companies can be backcharged. Thinking that I was making a joke, I pointed to the sign and said, "Are you going to give the angels a discount on the copies they made today?" The general contractor looked at me and said, "You know? Strange things like that happen around here quite often."

As the temple neared its completion, the general contractor and I had occasion to chat one more time. I knew that he was a staunch Baptist, one of the churches, in fact, that was so vocal in its protest over our building a temple in Houston. Over the months, we had become friends, and so I felt no qualms in asking him just what his feelings were, as a Baptist, building a Mormon temple. I'll never forget what he told me.

"In ancient times", he said, "building work was overseen by guilds. The guild masters were the ones who saw to it that the integrity of the craft over which they labored was the best it could be. If you wanted to enter the guild you had to begin as an apprentice and dedicate long years with little or no pay. The master under whom you labored, gave you room and board and your tools. Eventually, you became a journeyman in the guild and you got paid. However, if you wanted to become a master of the guild, you had to present a sample of your work to be judged by the other masters. It had to be a work of outstanding beauty and flawless quality for it was the work by which your skills would be judged. It had to be a work that would weather the ages and it was called, 'a masterpiece'"

The contractor continued, "Every building I've ever built has been one where money won out over quality. I've never been able to do the best I'm capable of because of budget restraints. If I'm grateful for one thing, it's that you Mormons don't skimp when it comes to your temples. For once, I'm able to build to the quality I'm really capable of".

Then he looked out over the temple and his gaze came back to me. His eyes were tearing up a bit and he swept his hand back towards the temple and his voice got a little reverent. "This is my masterpiece", he said.

"I've been building buildings for almost thirty years. I've been doing it so long, in fact, that they are beginning to tear down buildings that I was sure would live as a testament to my presence long after I was gone from this earth."

"I'm really grateful I had a chance to work on The Houston Temple."

Lost Generation

2009-02-19T21:35:00.000-08:00

This is a great, clever video entitled "Lost Generation". Enjoy.

Things I Love About...

2009-02-18T23:05:00.000-08:00

Here is a quick idea for a family home evening activity that I read about in the Ensign magazine a little while ago (see PDF). My wife and I are going to try it with our kids and see how it goes. I think they'll do ok - although AJ might need some help.

Slumdog Millionaire

2009-02-16T21:09:00.001-08:00

While I was in DC after my trip to India, my parents and I went to see the movie Slumdog Millionaire. It was a great movie and a terrific bookend to my India trip. The story is amazingly told and the imagery is also fantastic. Not everyone in India is as enthusiastic about the movie (see this article, for example) but I found it fairly realistic based on my experience there and what I had read in preparation for the trip (see this post, for example). I would highly recommend this movie to anyone.

The Other Part of Forgiveness

2009-02-16T21:01:00.000-08:00

There was a great one-page article in the December 2008 issue of the Ensign entitled "The Other Part of Forgiveness" (see also scanned PDF). Since it's a relatively short piece, I've included it all here:

I was struggling to forgive some acquaintances who had hurt me. Each time I thought of the situation and how sad I was, I felt angry all over again. I decided to talk with a friend, a fellow Christian of a different faith, about my struggle.

I told him that I wanted to retain the lessons I had learned but not the pain or anger. I asked, “How can I let my bad feelings go—not just ignore them but actually let them go?”

He responded with another question: “What did Jesus tell us to do with our enemies?”

“Forgive them,” I said, “but I can’t seem to follow through with that, even though I want to.”

“Yes,” he agreed. “Jesus did teach us to forgive, but He told us to do something else, something that I think makes it possible for us to forgive.”

My mind went blank. I couldn’t think of anything. My friend reminded me that the Savior taught us to pray for our enemies. He then pointed out that if others are having a bad enough time that they are ready to hurt us, they too must be hurting inside. When we pray that they will be able to resolve their difficulties, that they will be able to find happiness, he said, we can’t help but feel kindness and love toward them.

A peaceful assurance fell over me. That was it! The Savior’s words—“pray for them which despitefully use you” (Matthew 5:44)—were the answer I was searching for. I took those teachings to heart. I found that in praying for the people who I felt had wronged me, I was able to feel peace rather than anger or resentment. Each time I remembered my hurt feelings, I said a prayer in my mind for my acquaintances, and I immediately felt better. In time, I actually started to feel concern and compassion for these people. I even had a desire to help them if I could.

I am grateful to have had this gospel-centered conversation with my friend of a different faith. It increased my desire to openly speak about my beliefs so that I could have more enlightening experiences like this one. I had been guided and comforted and was blessed to find an answer to a challenge.

I have tried to apply this teaching in my life as well and can testify that it is a true principle.

Poor but Cheerful

2009-02-16T20:51:00.000-08:00

Here is another article that my mother sent me before my trip to India. The subtitle of the article is "a day spent on a mountain of trash in the Philippines inspires a young man to ponder the meanings of privilege and deprivation". This person's experience certainly supports the fact that a big part of how we evaluate our own situation, circumstances, and happiness is in comparison to other people. If none of the people around us have much, we are content without those things also. Where problems start coming in is when others around me seem to have more and I - by comparison - have less. In business school, I remember having a conversation with one of my classmates where I noted how lucky we were. Most of us would make more money per year than >99% of the world population. In response, my classmate told me that he didn't compare himself to 99% of the world population. He only compared himself to the people at HBS (and would only be happy if we did better than the rest of us). A sad commentary on the human condition.

Color Connection

2009-02-16T20:41:00.000-08:00

Before my trip to India, my mother shared this article with me. It discusses the fact that India is still a color-conscious society. I didn't experience this myself while I was there but I wasn't looking for it either. It, unfortunately, doesn't take me by surprise and India certainly isn't unique in this regard.

How Faith Can Heal

2009-02-16T20:34:00.000-08:00

Time magazine just did a special issue focused on "How Faith Can Heal" regarding how faith and medicine intersect (see PDF of articles). It was a reasonably interesting set of material but I wasn't terribly blown away. Posting the articles here in case I want to revisit it in the future.

The Character of God

2009-02-16T09:30:00.001-08:00

I just read an interesting sermon called "The Character of God" on ExploreFaith.org. It compares and contrasts two different models for viewing the character of God: (1) the monarchical model of God as King and Lord vs (2) a model of God as Divine Lover. The author advocates for the latter model - one of compassion and deep love for all His children - providing this challenge: "For just a moment think of the difference in your life if you knew that at the deepest level of your being that God is besotted with you, that God yearns for you, yearns that you turn and be in relationship with God as the beloved of God." I certainly agree with this view of God's character but also agree that our behavior and actions towards other matters and will influence in some way what happens after we die.

Deeper waters

2009-02-14T20:45:00.001-08:00

My wife's aunt NG sent this to me via email. It was written by Mitt Romney.

I don't remember when it was exactly that I finally went past the sandbar. My family had a summer cottage on the shores of one of the Great Lakes. For the first forty or so feet, the lake is shallow, warm, and protected from big waves by the sandbar. That's where I spent most of the hot summer days as a boy. I liked it there. One day, my brother got me up on water skis.

Perhaps fearing that a turn would make me fall, he drove the boat, and me, straight out into the deep. By the way, this lake is over 100 miles wide.

I screamed at him the whole terrifying ride. He took me about a half mile out. But ever after, the deep water was where I wanted to be: surfing in the breakers, water skiing, diving. I got out of the shallow water for good. Over the years, I have watched a good number of people live out their lives in the shallows. In the shallows, life is all about yourself, your job, your money, your house, your rights, your needs, your opinions, your ideas, and your comfort.

In the deeper waters, life is about others: family, friends, faith, community, country, caring, commitment. In the deeper waters, there are challenging ideas, opposing opinions, and uncomfortable battles. Almost every dimension of your life can be held to the shallows or taken into the deeper water. Your career, your involvement with others, your spouse and your children, your politics, each can be lived with you comfortably at the center. Or, they can draw you out of yourself, into service and sacrifice, into selflessness.

At some point in your life, a few of you may be presented with the opportunity to step off your career path, to give yourself fully to some kind of service. When I was asked to leave my investment company to run the Olympics in Salt Lake City, I dismissed the idea out of hand. I was making too much money, I didn't know bupkes about running a sports event. The job would pay me nothing. The organization was in the worst condition of any I had ever seen. And, after the Games were over, the position would lead nowhere. It was a dead end.

I took it. It was the highlight of my professional life. I gave more of myself than I ever had before. I came to know and respect remarkable people. There are currencies more lasting than money. It can be enormously rewarding to take the unobvious course, to jump into the deep water. Bias is shallow thinking and shallow water. Read widely, particularly from people who disagree with you. Argue to learn rather than to win. If you don't respect, I mean really respect, the views of people who disagree with you, then you don't understand them yet. There are smart people on both sides of almost every important issue. Learn from them all. If you have life all figured out in neat little packages, you're in Neverland, not the real world. And it's boring there. There's one more thing I've seen in the people who swim in the deep waters of life. They don't fashion their values and principles to suit their self-interest; they live instead by enduring principles that are fundamental to society and to successful, great lives.

I learned important lessons about those principles from some of the Olympians I saw in Salt Lake City, like bobsledder Vonetta Flowers. Vonetta was brakeman on USA sled two. All the attention, however, was on sled one, the sled that had taken the World Cup and was a lock for the Olympic Gold.

But just before the Olympics, the pilot of sled one dropped her partner and invited Vonetta Flowers to join her. Vonetta had a tough decision. On sled one, she'd get a gold medal for sure; the first Olympic gold to be won by an African American in the Olympic Winter Games. Those of us rooting for US medals hoped she would jump to sled one. She didn't. She decided that friendship and loyalty to her longtime teammate on sled two was more important than winning the gold. Of course, sled one did well. But when sled two beat them all, coming in first, the crowd went nuts. And tears dripped off Vonetta's cheeks.

Friendship and loyalty above gold.

You live one time only. Don't spend it in safe, shallow water. Launch out into the deep. Give yourself to your family, to your career, to your community. Open your mind to diverging viewpoints. And live, not by what suits the moment, but by the principles that endure for a lifetime.

Jump in, the water's fine!

Over the last couple of years, I've certainly been trying to launch out into the deep. The process continues.

Facebook Is for Old People

2009-02-13T20:09:00.001-08:00

There's a funny article in the February 23, 2009 issue of Time magazine called "Facebook Is for Old People" (see PDF). I've recently gotten into using Facebook and a lot of people my age use it too. I've found it a pretty good way to (at least superficially) keep in touch with people and know what they're up to. It's also fun for photos and exercises like this.

Hugs

2009-02-13T19:49:00.000-08:00

I think the graphic to the left is hilarious (click the image for a larger version). It's from a Time magazine article (in the February 23, 2009 issue) called "Are Hugs the New Handshakes?" discussing the increasing popularity of hugs in our society. I've certainly noticed this trend and embraced it myself. I totally do the "Hip-Hop Hug" with my brother and my brothers-in-law. And I do the "Ass-Out Hug" with my sisters-in-law, especially HG. I especially like the names of the different hugs.

Quote of the day

2009-02-08T23:50:00.001-08:00

Not sure if any of you have noticed the quote of the day widget I added to my blog a little while ago. If not, scroll down a bit and look on the left side of the page. Today's quote was great: "Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday" - Proverb. Love it.

Meeting God

2009-02-08T19:07:00.000-08:00

While preparing for my trip to India, I checked out Meeting God: Elements of Hindu Devotion from the library. It's a great book that takes an intimate look at Hindu religious practices, supported with amazing photography. In the foreword, it says:

In this presentation of Hinduism, I deeply appreciate the coming together of two potent spheres: the hard work of daily survival and the limitless imagination that gives such vitality to ritual, story, painting, shrines, statuary, temples, and gestures, to note just a few elements of puja. Here religion is colorful and entrancing. It is practiced by ordinary people on ordinary days and usually in ordinary places, but all that ordinariness is transformed by an imagination for the infinite that is vivid, passionate, and remarkably sophisticated, and articulated with great subtlety.

The preface goes on to say:

For the average Hindu, the Divine is personal and approachable. The most common word describing worship is darsham, literally translated as "seeing and being seen by God." My own rich experiences in India during the past three decades have led me to a deep understanding of this process of "meeting God." In writing this book, I have attempted to convey the transformative intensity of worship in India as it evokes the heart as well as the mind, and as it involves the active use of all the senses ... Hinduism is a religion of strength, vitality, innovation, and balance. By opening our hearts and minds to its messages, we can enrich our own lives.

I won't try to get into every aspect of Hindu belief or devotion in this post. I covered some of it in a prior post. I'll provide this excerpt, though, since I think it does a good job of summarizing some of the key concepts from the book:

Puja is the ceremonial act of showing reverence to a God or Goddess through invocation, prayer, song, and ritual. An essential aspect of puja for Hindus is communion with the Divine. The worshipper believes that with this contact she or he has established direct contact with the deity. Most often that contact is facilitated through an image: an element of nature, a sculpture, vessel, painting, or print. When the image is consecrated at the time of its installation in a shrine or temple, the deity is invited to invest the image with his or her cosmic energy. In the eyes of most devotees, the icon then comes the deity, its presence reaffirmed by the daily rituals of honoring and invocation. Certainly most Hindus recognize that the magnitude of a God or Goddess is far greater than any image. Nevertheless, most also believe that divine power is so magnificent that it can be present anywhere in the world at any time. In other words, while one image of Shiva in a small town temple is believed by his devotees to be the God incarnate in stone, it is nevertheless consistent in Hinduism that every other sculpture of Shiva in each of hundreds of thousands of shrines throughout the world also contains his divine presence and power. Many Hindu sages have remarked that very few are able to understand the abstract, formless essence of the Absolute. Most individuals, they state, need to approach God through images and with rituals specific to that deity, not so much because the deity requires it but because of the limitations of the devotee. They believe that humans need something concrete on which to focus in prayer. Hinduism fulfills that need through innumerable manifestations. Although many images are exquisitely and elaborately fashioned by sculptors or painters, and, for the devout Hindu, artistic merit is important, it is secondary to spiritual content. Images are created as receptacles for spiritual energy; each is an essential link that allows the devotee to experience direct communion with the Gods.

The principal aim of any puja is this feeling of personal contact with the deity. Darsham, literally translated from Sanskrit as "seeing and being seen by God," is that moment when the worshipper is receptive to recognition by the God or Goddess. Darshan may be achieved in a variety of ways. It may be felt by an individual during his or her daily household pujas or meditations, when the contact is made alone. A person may experience darshan simply by viewing a particularly sacred sculpture or holy spot, perhaps during a pilgrimage or at a festival. Or the individual may feel a special communication with the deity through the intervention of a priest during a strictly regulated temple ritual. Through whatever means it comes, darshan brings both peace and blessing to Hindu devotees, and through it, they believe, miracles can and do occur frequently.

Hinduism is not in general a congregational religion. Its adherents worship singly or in small family units. Most sacred rituals take place in the home or in temples or shrines that may be visited at any time from early morning until late night (in some parts of the country they may be closed for several midday hours). Unlike most other religions, Hinduism has no sermons. Priests are trained to act as liaisons with the Divine, learning the complex prescriptions of rituals that must be enacted precisely to show proper respect to the Gods and to facilitate darshan for the devotee. Learned priests and holy scholars may conduct discussions on sacred texts and philosophies, but there informal meetings are held outside the temple's sanctum. The closest parallel to Judeo-Christian services are bhajanas, in which followers of the Bhakti movement join to sing hymns and praises to their Lord Krishna, yet there still is no preaching as it is known in the West. Although anyone may worship in a temple at any time, there are auspicious times during the day when many people gather to perform pujas. The format is not congregational in the Judeo-Christian sense of the word; instead, each person lines up to get as close as possible to the image of the deity in order to have his or her darshan.

In spit of its focus on the individual, Hinduism still provides many occasions for group activities. Perhaps the most common are the numerous religious festivals held each year, usually joyous celebrations involving the entire community. Although some festivals are centered on the home, most involve special pujas at the appropriate nearby temples, which are thronged with devotees in their finest apparel. Others revolve around huge parades in which consecrated processional images of the deities are brought out once each year for public darshan by the elderly and infirm, who might not be able to visit the temple. Through pilgrimages a large group of devotees from one community can visit sacred spots in other parts of the country, gaining darshan and subsequent merit by performing pujas in these distant shrines and temples. Finally, recitations and reenactments of sacred stories are often held within and outside the temple, and they may be followed by discussions led by scholars and priests.

One of the most popular deities in Bengal (where my father's family is from) is Kali.

To the outsider, Kali is perhaps Hinduism's most confusing deity. She is often envisioned as a hideous black crone with pendulous breasts and lolling tongue, her neck adorned with a string of human skulls, her many hands brandishing weapons (one holding the bloody head of a demon), while she dances upon the seemingly lifeless form of Shiva. Kali is Shiva's wife in her most horrific form. According to legend, she has assumed her terrible role to annihilate evil is all of its guises, but in her rage she devours all existence, even trampling the body of her husband, in order to re-create life. She symbolizes the absolute power of the Divine Feminine (Shakti) for action and change. For her devotees she is uncompromising and direct, demanding total surrender of the ego and detachment from materialism. She is intolerant of complacence and vanity, requiring from her followers rigorous self-honesty. But to her millions of devotees, Kali is also the Divine Mother, the nurturer, the provider. To them, she is beautiful and beloved, enriching and fulfilling the lives of those who follow her path.

Little wonder that Kali is my deity (via my family in India) given the focus on action, change, and surrender.

In closing, perhaps the thing that I most admired about Hindu devotion is how integrated it is into the daily existence of its adherents. While I was in India, I saw religious symbols and shrines everywhere. I saw people doing puja at a small public shrine on a busy sidewalk. There was no separation between one's spiritual life and the rest of their life. That's something everyone - regarding of their religious affiliation or beliefs - can admire and benefit from.

Melchizedek Priesthood

2009-02-06T21:35:00.000-08:00

The Bishop (leader) of my ward (congregation) asked me to start thinking about receiving the Melchizedek Priesthood. Since folks think about the "priesthood" a little differently in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I thought I'd start by explaining the priesthood before diving specifically into the Melchizedek Priesthood. This chapter from one of our lesson manuals provides a good introduction to the priesthood. It explains:

The priesthood is the power and authority of God ... Our Heavenly Father shares his priesthood power with worthy male members of the Church. The priesthood enables them to act in God’s name for the salvation of the human family. Through it they can be authorized to preach the gospel, administer the ordinances of salvation, and govern God’s kingdom on earth.

We must have priesthood authority to act in the name of God when performing the sacred ordinances of the gospel, such as baptism, confirmation, administration of the sacrament, and temple marriage. If a man does not have the priesthood, even though he may be sincere, the Lord will not recognize ordinances he performs (see Matthew 7:21–23) ...

The Lord has prepared an orderly way for his priesthood to be given to his sons on the earth. A worthy male member of the Church receives the priesthood “by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof” (Articles of Faith 1:5).

This is the same way men received the priesthood long ago, even in the days of Moses: “And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron” (Hebrews 5:4). Aaron received the priesthood from Moses, his priesthood leader (see Exodus 28:1). Only those who hold the priesthood can ordain others. Men cannot buy and sell the power and authority of the priesthood. Nor can they take this authority upon themselves.

The following chapter in the same lesson manual explains that the priesthood is divided into two parts: the Melchizedek Priesthood and the Aaronic Priesthood.

The greater priesthood is the Melchizedek Priesthood. Long ago it was called “the Holy Priesthood, after the Order of the Son of God.” But the name was changed so the name of the Lord would not be used so often. The Church in ancient days called the priesthood “the Melchizedek Priesthood” after a great high priest who lived during the time of Abraham. (See D&C 107:2–4)

The lesser priesthood is an appendage to the Melchizedek Priesthood. It is called the Aaronic Priesthood because it was conferred on Aaron and his sons throughout all their generations. Those who hold the Aaronic Priesthood have authority to administer the outward ordinances of repentance and baptism. (See D&C 107:13–14, 20)

Those holding the Melchizedek Priesthood have the power and authority to lead the Church and direct the preaching of the gospel in all parts of the world. They are in charge of all the spiritual work of the Church (see D&C 84:19–22). They direct the work done in the temples; they preside over wards, branches, stakes, and missions; they heal the sick, bless babies, and give special blessings to Church members. The Lord’s chosen prophet, the President of the Church, is the presiding high priest over the Melchizedek Priesthood (see D&C 107:65–67).

A lesson in a different manual clearly lists the duties and powers of the Aaronic Priesthood (of which I'm currently a priesthood holder) versus the Melchizedek Priesthood (of which I'm currently not).

Power of the Aaronic Priesthood

1. Prepare, administer, and pass the sacrament.

2. Baptize (priests only).

3. Receive the ministering of angels.

4. Go home teaching.

5. Look after the physical needs of the Saints.

6. Collect fast offerings.

7. Ordain other priests, teachers, and deacons (priests only).

8. Take charge of meetings in the absence of elders.

Power of the Melchizedek Priesthood

1. Confer the gift of the Holy Ghost.

2. Name and bless infants.

3. Administer to the sick.

4. Consecrate oil for anointing.

5. Dedicate graves.

6. Confer the Melchizedek and Aaronic priesthoods and ordain to offices in those priesthoods.

7. Look after the spiritual needs of the Saints.

8. Preside at meetings.

9. Enter the temple and receive all temple ordinances.

10. With the proper keys, officiate in all temple ordinances.

11. Have power and authority over all the offices in the Church (see D&C 107:8).

12. Do all things an Aaronic Priesthood bearer can do.

That lesson goes on to explain that "the Apostle Paul once referred to Jesus as having been 'called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec' (Hebrews 5:10). Jesus was the Great High Priest of the Melchizedek Priesthood. He is the true example of what it means to have and use the Melchizedek Priesthood ... when a young man becomes an elder in the Melchizedek Priesthood, he will have the power to act for and on behalf of Christ in spiritual things. Elder Bruce R. McConkie spoke about elders in the following way: 'Elders are ministers of Christ.'" (Note: the word "elder" has two meanings in the Church. It can refer in a general way to a holder of the Melchizedek Priesthood. It also refers to a specific office in the Melchizedek Priesthood).

In a Church magazine article, Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explains that "priesthood means service". He goes on to say that "all who hold the priesthood of God are joined together in a common bond of service ... regardless of your priesthood office or your years of membership or service in the Church, you always can do more. To receive the priesthood is to make an eternal commitment to serving others."

One way we can serve others is by administering priesthood blessings. In this Church magazine article, Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explains:

In a priesthood blessing a servant of the Lord exercises the priesthood, as moved upon by the Holy Ghost, to call upon the powers of heaven for the benefit of the person being blessed. Such blessings are conferred by holders of the Melchizedek Priesthood, which has the keys of all the spiritual blessings of the Church (see D&C 107:18, 67).

There are many kinds of priesthood blessings. As I give various examples, please remember that priesthood blessings are available for all who need them, but they are only given on request. Blessings for the healing of the sick are preceded by anointing with oil, as the scriptures direct (see James 5:14–15; Mark 6:13; D&C 24:13–14; D&C 42:43–48; D&C 66:9). Patriarchal blessings are conferred by an ordained patriarch.

Persons desiring guidance in an important decision can receive a priesthood blessing. Persons who need extra spiritual power to overcome a personal challenge can receive a blessing. Expectant mothers can be blessed before they give birth. Many LDS families remember a sacred occasion where a worthy father gave a priesthood blessing to a son or daughter who was about to be married. Priesthood blessings are often requested from fathers before children leave home for other purposes, such as school, service in the military, or a long trip...

Blessings given in circumstances such as I have just described are sometimes called blessings of comfort or counsel. They are usually given by fathers or husbands or other elders in the family ... Priesthood blessings are also given in connection with a priesthood ordination or with the setting apart of a man or woman for a calling in the Church. These are probably the most frequent occasions for priesthood blessings ...

What is the significance of a priesthood blessing? Think of a young man preparing to leave home to seek his fortune in the world. If his father gave him a compass, he might use this worldly tool to help him find his way. If his father gave him money, he could use this to give him power over worldly things. A priesthood blessing is a conferral of power over spiritual things. Though it cannot be touched or weighed, it is of great significance in helping us overcome obstacles on the path to eternal life ...

It is a very sacred responsibility for a Melchizedek Priesthood holder to speak for the Lord in giving a priesthood blessing. As the Lord has told us in modern revelation, “My word … shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same” (D&C 1:38). If a servant of the Lord speaks as he is moved upon by the Holy Ghost, his words are “the will of the Lord, … the mind of the Lord, … the word of the Lord, … [and] the voice of the Lord” (D&C 68:4). But if the words of a blessing only represent the priesthood holder’s own desires and opinions, uninspired by the Holy Ghost, then the blessing is conditioned on whether it represents the will of the Lord ...

In modern revelation, parents who are members of the Church are commanded to bring their children “before the church,” where the elders “are to lay their hands upon them in the name of Jesus Christ, and bless them in his name” (D&C 20:70). This is why parents bring babies to a sacrament meeting, where an elder—usually the father—gives them a name and a blessing ...

Brethren, young and old, do not be hesitant to ask for a priesthood blessing when you are in need of spiritual power. Fathers and other elders, cherish and magnify the privilege of blessing your children and the other children of our Heavenly Father. Be prepared to give priesthood blessings under the influence of the Holy Ghost whenever you are requested in sincerity and faith.

Finally, priesthood holders are called upon to magnify their priesthood (see D&C 84:33-34,38). In this Church magazine article, it explains that requires at least the following three things: (1) that we obtain a knowledge of the gospel, (2) that we comply in our personal living with the standards of the gospel, and (3) that we give dedicated service. By doing these things, "a man can make the maximum progress towards eternal life, for which mortality is designed, [and] obtain and magnify the Melchizedek Priesthood." But we're not alone in this effort. In D&C 84:42, the Lord says that "I have given the heavenly hosts and mine angels charge concerning you."

Only time will tell when I will receive the Melchizedek Priesthood and when I will later receive the blessings that the temple has to offer. But when that time comes, I intend to cherish the trust that God has placed in me and use those blessings to bless the lives of others. Of this I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

25 Random Things About Me

2009-02-06T21:08:00.000-08:00

I just posted this as a note on my Facebook account. One of my friends tagged me in his list saying "GNP confuses me. He rocks very hard though." I can't imagine my list will leave him any less confused.

Once you've been tagged, you are invited to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 (or so) people to be tagged. Please tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

*To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, then click post. Go onto your 'profile' page, and open the note. Then 'tag people in this note'.

1. I never used to understand people who were deeply religious - and secretly looked down on them. Now I'm one of them and can't get God out of my every thought (nor do I want to).

2. I'm a pretty serious perfectionist and wish I weren't so mediocre at being mediocre - but I'm improving over time.

3. I'm serially obsessive about stuff - being totally focused one something for a couple of hours, days, or weeks and then moving on to something new to focus on.

4. I've always wanted to dunk a basketball and do an unassisted pull-up. Perhaps I can get obsessed about working out and make those things happen.

5. I believe that everything happens for a reason. Others disagree. So even though I'm still dogmatic that everything in *my* life happens for a reason, I'm willing to acknowledge that chaos may rein in other people's lives (or at least appear to).

6. I love my wife more and more each day - as if that were possible. She's my soul mate and a true blessing in my life.

7. My wife refers to me as "Yahoo Serious" sometimes - because I'm too serious, not because I have long hair.

8. I hate the parable of the Prodigal Son. I identify with the responsible elder son.

9. I've always wanted to be more eccentric. Perhaps my eccentricity can be wanting to be more eccentric.

10. I miss having a creative outlet at work. I need to figure out how to justify having a creative department or a talent show at a biofuels startup.

11. I get along well with people but generally consider myself anti-social.

12. People have trouble figuring out my ethnicity. A co-worker calls me an International Everyman.

13. I have a fear of being stung by bees/wasps, getting burned while taking things out of the oven, and using toilets in public bathrooms. In my own defense, though, who in their right mind isn't afraid of using toilets in public bathrooms?

14. The Dallas Cowboys played in the first football game I watched as a kid. I was about 6 years old and living in Germany at the time. They've been my favorite team ever since - although I don't watch much football anymore.

15. I voted yes on Prop 8 but continue to go back and forth on whether I still agree with that decision.

16. Sometimes I lament the amount of stuff I've learned in my life that I've since forgotten. But perhaps I need to make space for new stuff to learn.

17. I aspire to being an early-bird but continue to be a night-owl.

18. I look forward to wearing magic underwear (GC's term, not mine) - not because it's magic but because of the commitments it would represent.

19. I enjoy spooning with my wife but sometimes her body-pillow gets in the way.

20. In the last couple years, I discovered I have the parents I always wanted.

21. I just met my paternal grandmother in India for the first time in my life. It was my best approximation of what it will be like to be reunited with family members in heaven.

22. I want to travel to lots of places around the world during my life. As a kid, I traveled all over Europe and the US/Canada with my family but don't remember much of it now.

23. I've been writing in a blog for almost three years now (http://gnp30.blogspot.com/).

24. My favorite number is 24 and my favorite TV show is 24. Coincidence?

25. I hope to be the father that my kids deserve.

Random event or message from heaven?

2009-02-02T23:30:00.000-08:00

This morning, I was up in San Francisco for a conference. Right after parking my car and walking out of the parking garage (at about 7:45am), I noticed a person walking towards me carrying a sign. I couldn't quite make out what it said but one of the words appeared to be "Jesus". As I looked up a bit, I noticed that the person was wearing a bright yellow shirt that said "Jesus Christ Loves You". He walked by very matter-of-fact and didn't say anything to me.

Here's the question that's been going through my head since then. Was that a random event without any meaning or was it a message from heaven? I'm inclined towards the latter but I could certainly see people arguing for the former. I'm of the opinion more and more these days that God is sending us messages all the time but we just don't pay attention or attach significance to them. We convince ourselves that God wouldn't take a personal interest in us. But I just don't think that's the case.

Always Remember Him

2009-02-01T21:20:00.000-08:00

A week ago, one of my home-teachers gave a great talk at church about what it means to always remember Jesus Christ (see PDF). My favorite part is the following excerpt:

The word remember means to bring an image or idea from the past into mind. It implies a keeping in memory that may be effortless or unwilled. To witness to the Father in the Sacrament prayer that we will always remember Jesus Christ implies that we have memories, knowledge of, or a relationship with Christ on which we can think back, otherwise, what else are we remembering? In other words, we cannot maintain an active memory of Christ if we know nothing about him, his life or his teachings. In order to remember him, we must know him.

That last sentence really hit me: "In order to remember Him, we must know Him." To know Him, we must be willing to have an active dialogue with Him through prayer and we must read about Him and His teachings in scripture. Reading this again makes me more motivated to want to do those things.

Recording dreams

2009-02-01T20:49:00.000-08:00

I've often thought that it would be very cool to be able to record dreams and then play them back and analyze them later. It appears that maybe that will be possible at some point. Awhile ago, I saw this article about how scientists have been able to extract images from the brain. The beginning of the article says:

Researchers from Japan’s ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories have developed new brain analysis technology that can reconstruct the images inside a person’s mind and display them on a computer monitor, it was announced on December 11. According to the researchers, further development of the technology may soon make it possible to view other people’s dreams while they sleep. The scientists were able to reconstruct various images viewed by a person by analyzing changes in their cerebral blood flow.

I was a bit skeptical of whether this could be for real so I consulted a friend of mine who has done research in a related field. Here is what he said:

The research is certainly for real, and I can see why it would work. That said, I'm a little bit skeptical about some of the extrapolation (say to reading dream images). The optic nerve heads into the visual cortex, and I think the individual nerves in the optic nerve bundle maintain a geometric configuration similar to the rods and cones on the back of the retina. So when the electrical signals for an image hit the visual cortex, there is going to be a fair amount of spatial localization. I'm guessing that there is then a pretty distinct brain activation footprint in the visual cortex when these stark black-and-white images are shown, yielding a strong correlation between an images shape and the "shape" of the activation pattern in the visual cortex. And that's what they are exploiting. Very cool.

Now take the case of extracting images from memory. I don't know how much involvement there is from the visual cortex in calling up an image from memory. If the visual cortex is involved in the same way as when the image is actually being viewed, then I believe it might be possible. If other areas of the brain are involved and not the visual cortex, I doubt there would be such a distinct "footprint" on an fMRI scan. (In other words, it isn't clear that thinking about an image of the letter "n" would activate a section of the brain in a distinct spatial pattern different from thinking about any other letter). (But maybe this has already been proved---it's not my area.)

On applying fMRI to the "reading" of people's emotions, that can totally work. There seem to be pretty distinct activation patterns for different rough emotions across the brain. As the technology gets better, we'll see a lot more of that.

Very cool stuff.

So perhaps I will be able to record my dreams someday. Not sure if that will be a blessing or a curse but it would certainly be very cool technology.

Mindfulness

2009-02-01T20:23:00.000-08:00

About a month ago, a friend of mine sent me this true story.

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin. It was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousand of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by, and a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds - and then hurried up to meet his schedule.
A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping - continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention, was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried - but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk - turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money, but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.
Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world - playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

This is a good reminder to "stop and smell the roses" as we do not know where blessings may come from unexpectedly.

Bengali bag

2009-02-01T09:33:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, AJ and I went up to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. I backed some supplies and put them in a bag I brought home from India (see photo to the right). The writing on the bag is in Bengali - one of the many languages spoken in India. While I was pushing AJ on the swing at the large children's playground, I looked down at the bag and realized that most people wouldn't recognize the writing as Bengali. Without knowing better, they might have thought the writing was Arabic and assume that I was Muslim - I am an International Everyman after all (see prior post). All of a sudden, I became very self-conscious of what people might be thinking and kept expecting parents to pull their children away from me as if I were a terrorist. That feeling persisted for the rest of the time we were at Golden Gate Park - a couple of hours. I'm not proud of my response and, as far as I could tell, no one noticed the bag or thought anything of it if they did. But it did give me some small appreciation for what it must feel like to be a victim of racial profiling and the assumptions people sometimes make based on little or no information.

Fireproof

2009-02-01T06:42:00.000-08:00

Last night, my wife and I watched the movie Fireproof (see official web site along with Wikipedia entry). I heard about the movie the other day while listening to Catholic radio and was able to get it at a local DVDPlay location. The movie is super-cheesy and a bit predictable but it has a great message regarding marriage and God. In particular, the movie speaks to the need to never leave your marriage partner in a fire (much like firefighters in a real fire). Also, making something "fireproof" doesn't mean that the fire will never come. It means that the object (in this case, marriage) will be able to withstand the fire when it does come. As a follow-up to the movie, there is a Web site called fireproofmymarriage.com.

My wife tells me that I'm too serious - and that's certainly true. But one thing that I'm incredibly serious about - and hope I never get less serious about - is my marriage.

In the name of Jesus Christ

2009-01-26T00:54:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post wondering why people say the word "amen" at the end of their prayers. Tonight, I was wondering why members of the LDS Church say the words "in the name of Jesus Christ, amen" at the end of their prayers. The short answer is that we're directed in scripture to do this (see 3 Nephi 18:19 and the topical guide). The longer answer is that we're acknowledging and accepting the authority of Jesus Christ - seeing this great article from the 1985 Ensign entitled "Taking upon Us the Name of Jesus Christ" for a very thorough treatment of this topic. So, combined with what I wrote before regarding the meaning of "amen", saying "in the name of Jesus Christ, amen" is morally equivalent to saying "by the authority of Jesus Christ, so it may be".

Lunch Bag Art

2009-01-25T05:12:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine just turned me on to a very cool site - Lunch Bag Art. Apparently this guy makes a new bag each day for his kids during his lunch break. Very cool to look through all the designs. Too bad I don't have this talent but hopefully I can find other special things to do for my kids over time.

Sri Siva Vishnu Temple

2009-01-23T13:36:00.000-08:00

This morning, my parents and I visited the Sri Siva Vishnu Temple in Lanham, Maryland. It's a really impressive Hindu temple in this area - see pictures from our visit. The architecture and attention to detail were amazing. My dad said that the facility and the deities are more reminescient of South India than West Bengal. We also tried to visit the Washington Kali Temple but it turned out to be closed when we got there (too bad).

Ghost Town

2009-01-23T11:29:00.000-08:00

On my way back from India, they were showing the movie Ghost Town on the plane. It's a reasonably entertaining movie about an obnoxious guy who has a near-death experience and can then see ghosts afterwards - more in this movie review. There was a quote in the movie by Albert Einstein that I really liked - "Only a life lived for others is worth living." I would certainly agree - and wanted to save the quote for future reference.

one night @ the call center

2009-01-23T11:07:00.000-08:00

While I was in the Kolkata airport, I bought a book called one night @ the call center by Chetan Bhagat (later turned into a movie called "Hello"). Here is the description on the back of the book:

In the winter of 2004, a writer met a young girl on an overnight train journey. To pass the time, she offered to tell him a story. However, she offered to tell him a story. However, she had one condition: that he make it into his second book. He hesitated, but asked what the story was about. The girl said the story was about six people working in a call center, set in one night. She said it was the night they had got a phone call. That phone call was from God.

Given the description, I was expecting a much more spiritual book than it turned out to be. So I was a bit disappointed but the novel was still entertaining. Probably the most interesting part of the book was an exercise the author has readers go through at the very beginning:

Before you begin this book, I have a small request. Right here, note down three things. Write down something that (i) you fear, (ii) makes you angry, (iii) you don't like about yourself. Be honest, and write something that is meaningful to you. Do not think too much about why I am asking you to do this. Just do it ... okay, now forget about this exercise and enjoy the story.

At first, I was at a bit of a loss on how to respond. As I thought about it more, here is what I wrote down. I fear not living up to my potential and not doing what God would have be do in life. I later amended this to also include a fear of being stung by bees/wasps and using toilets in public bathrooms. What makes me angry is illogical and irrational behavior. And what I don't like about myself is my shortness of temper with my kids sometimes and also being "yahoo serious" most of the time (well, really all the time).

British Idol (Punjabi Style)

2009-01-23T10:58:00.000-08:00

This is a great video that my mother pointed me to - Michael Jackson meets Bollywood is the best way to describe it.

This video is their first performance on the show. They later went on to the semifinals (see video) and the finals (see video).

Spirituality, Not Religion, Makes Kids Happy

2009-01-15T23:58:00.000-08:00

My brother sent me an article from U.S. News & World Report entitled "Spirituality, Not Religion, Makes Kids Happy". Here is the opening part of the article:

The link between spirituality and happiness is pretty well-established for teens and adults. More spirituality brings more happiness. Now a study has reached into the younger set, finding the same link in "tweens" and in kids in middle childhood.

Specifically, the study shows that children who feel that their lives have meaning and value and who develop deep, quality relationships — both measures of spirituality, the researchers claim — are happier.

Personal aspects of spirituality (meaning and value in one's own life) and communal aspects (quality and depth of inter-personal relationships) were both strong predictors of children's happiness, said study leader Mark Holder from the University of British Columbia in Canada and his colleagues Ben Coleman and Judi Wallace.

However, religious practices were found to have little effect on children's happiness, Holder said. Religion is just one institutionalized venue for the practice of or experience of spirituality, and some people say they are spiritual but are less enthusiastic about the concept of God.

Other research has shown a connection between well-adjusted and well-behaved children and religion, but that is not the same, necessarily, as happiness.

No huge surprises here. My one comment - at least from my last year of experience - is that a religiously-grounded world-view can certainly enhance one's spirituality and communal aspects - which, in turn, enhances happiness.

Paul Potts

2009-01-14T20:33:00.000-08:00

This is a really cool video. Made me tear up a bit to see how well he performed.

Paul went on to win the competition and now even has a CD of his own (see his official site). Dreams really do come true sometimes.

Reflections of Christ

2009-01-11T10:37:00.001-08:00

I met briefly with the missionaries yesterday and they let me borrow a DVD called Reflections of Christ. The project generated 25 photo portrayals of different parts of the life of Christ as described in the New Testament. One is included to the right - angels heralding the birth of Christ. The other photos are available to view online here. There is a beautiful slide show set to music here. It's a little over five and a half minutes long. It's definitely worth the time to watch. I gathered the family together this morning to watch and it was a nice spiritual moment on the Sabbath.

New 2000 Year Old Insight

2009-01-07T10:10:00.000-08:00

I'm reading through a conference presentation for work and it included this great quote:

“One thing is sure: the Earth is more cultivated and developed now than ever before; there is more farming but fewer forests, swamps are drying up and cities springing up on an unprecedented scale. We have become a burden to our planet. Resources are becoming scarce and soon Nature will no longer be able to satisfy our needs.”

-Quintus Septimius Tertullianus (Roman politician) 200 BC

The presentation says 200 BC but a quick search makes it seems like 200 AD is more accurate. Regardless, it appears that people have been concerned about the future of the plant for a long time. Technology (and land expansion) has always come to the rescue in the past. Hopefully technology can save the day again this time - or at least be an important part of the answer.

Amen

2008-12-30T22:21:00.001-08:00

I was wondering recently why people say the word "amen" at the end of prayers. I did a little digging into the subject today. From what I can tell, the word "amen" means "verily", "truly", "so be it", or "so it may be". Here is one resource from Google. Here is another from the LDS web site that gets into scriptural references and some additional insight into ancient usage.

Abraham Lincoln and Prayer

2008-12-30T15:55:00.000-08:00

I was looking through a catalog and came across a framed print of this quote by Abraham Lincoln: "I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go." I liked the quote - President Lincoln is a favorite of mine - and it reminded me of 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." Sometimes people wonder why a caring and loving God would allow hardships - even terrible hardships - in our lives. Perhaps it's so we'll turn to Him since we'll feel we have nowhere else to go.

Jesus Bobble-Head

2008-12-30T11:40:00.000-08:00

A little while ago, I bought a Jesus Christ bobble-head for my office. It's currently sitting on my desk at work. I thought it would be a low-key way to let people know that I am Christian and serve as a fun conversation-starter for people who are interested in talking more about it. It's also had the slightly unexpected effect of keeping me on my best behavior at work (see this fun video to get a better sense of what I mean).

So far, no one has asked me about the bobble-head but it hasn't been here that long. Interestingly, though, two former co-workers gave me holiday cards - one who is Christian but another denomination and one who is Mormon but no longer active. In the first card, the person wrote "you are a real blessing and shine God's light". In the second card, the person wrote "it is so great to see you so dedicated to God!" I don't remember talking to either one of these people much about religion - some stuff here and there but nothing too extensive. I guess people pay attention (both positively and negatively) more than I think.

Emma Smith: My Story

2008-12-30T11:14:00.001-08:00

I was in Salt Lake City for Christmas and had an opportunity to watch the movie "Emma Smith: My Story". Relative to her first husband (Joseph Smith Jr., the founder of the LDS Church), a lot less is known of Emma Smith. I thought the movie was quite interesting and well done (although pretty similar to the movie "Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration"). It gave me a more tangible feel for the struggles that Emma went through - the loss of multiple children, extended separation from her husband, constant attacks on her family, etc.

Awhile ago, someone who was investigating the Church asked me about Emma Smith and why she chose not to move west after the death of her husband. I don't know if we'll ever fully know Emma's reasons for that but it did prompt me to read up on the Mormon Succession Crisis of 1844. In case you ever become interested in that topic, this is a great analysis that I found.

Footprints in the world

2008-12-30T10:25:00.000-08:00

I've started using Facebook a lot recently. It's a good social networking site and has been a fun way to at least minimally keep in touch with people and know what they're up to. If you also use Facebook and want to link up, send me an email.

Today, someone I know posted this comment: "wonders: Is time deterministic and inevitable, or quanticized and uncertain?" To which, someone else responded: "Some people choose to make no footprint in the world. Don't be that guy." I don't fully follow the original question but really liked the response and wanted to keep it for the future. Regardless of where life takes me and whether I succeed or fail in the things that I attempt to do, I hope I will be able to look back on my life and say that I made a footprint in the world (see prior post).

Wikipedia

2008-12-30T10:04:00.000-08:00

I just made a financial donation to Wikipedia so they can continue to fund their operations. I'm sure all (or at least many) of you have used Wikipedia at some point. It's a great resource - especially for scientific information - and I use it often. To the extent possible, I hope you will support this common good as well.

Children's Letters to God

2008-12-27T12:09:00.000-08:00

My in-laws have these cute letters to God on their computer. I couldn't help writing them down so I'd have them for the future. So amazing to see what kids say sometimes.

Dear God,
Instead of letting people die and having to make new ones, why don't you just keep the ones you got now?
J

Dear God,
I went to this wedding and they kissed right in church. Isthat ok?
N

Dear God,
I think the stapler is one of your greatest invention.
R

Dear God,
In bible times, did they really talk that fancy?
J

Dear God,
I think about you sometimes even when I'm not praying.
E

Dear God,
I am American. What are you?
R

Dear God,
Thank you for the baby brother but what I prayed for was a puppy.
J

Dear God,
I bet it is very hard for you to love all of everybody in the whole world. There are only 4 people in our family and I can never do it.
N

Dear God,
Please put another holiday between Christmas and Easter. There is nothing good in there now.
G

Dear God,
If you watch in church on Sunday, I will show you my new shoes.
M

Dear God,
If we come back as something, please don't let me be Jennifer Horton because I hate her.
D

God,
I would like to live 900 years like the guy in the Bible.
Love,
C

Dear God,
If you give me a genie lamp like Alladin, I will give you anything you want except my money or my chess set.
R

We read Thos. Edison made light. But in Sun. School they said you did it. So I bet he stoled your idea.
Sincerely,
D

Dear God,
If you let the dinasor not exstinct we would not have a country. You did the right thing.
J

Dear God,
Please send Dennis Clark to a different camp this year.
P

Dear God,
Maybe Cain and Abel would not kill each so much if they had their own rooms. It works with my brother.
L

I'd hard to pick a favorite - they're all so good - but I think it would either be the one about Cain and Abel or praying for a puppy instead of a baby brother.

Everything's amazing, nobody's happy

2008-12-25T20:27:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine turned me on to this video. It's a clip of Louis CK on Conan (10/1/08). He's talking about modern conveniences and how everyone takes them for granted. I've made that observation many times before. In particular, I think it's amazing (and a little crazy) that my kids will never know a world without cell phones, email, the Internet/Web, DVDs, DVRs, Microsoft Office, Google, video games, computers, etc. Just as an example, I still remember going to the public library to do research for school projects, looking up books in a paper-based card catalog, photo-copying the pages I needed, and typing up my report in DOS-based Word Perfect and printing it out on a dot-matrix printer. Now I could probably accomplish the same thing in 20 minutes using Google or Wikipedia without even having to leave my house - and have a much more polished result to boot. Amazing how quickly things change - and I'm not even that old!

Cowboy Logic

2008-12-25T20:12:00.000-08:00

My mother-in-law shared this funny story with me:

A cowboy was herding his herd in a remote pasture when suddenly a brand-new BMW advanced out of a dust cloud towards him.

The driver, a young man in a Brioni suit, Gucci shoes, Ray Ban sunglasses and YSL tie, leans out the window and asks the cowboy, "If I tell you exactly how many cows and calves you have in your herd, will you give me a calf?"

The cowboy looks at the man, obviously a yuppie, then looks at his peacefully grazing herd and calmly answers, "Sure. Why not?" The yuppie parks his car, whips out his Dell notebook computer, connects it to his AT&T cell phone, surfs to a NASA page on the Internet, where he calls up a GPS satellite navigation system to get an exact fix on his location which he then feeds to another NASA satellite that scans the area in an ultra-high-resolution photo. The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop and exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg, Germany.

Within seconds, he receives an email on his Palm Pilot that the image has been processed and the data stored. He then accesses a MS-SQL database through an ODBC connected Exce spreadsheet with hundreds of complex formulas. He uploads all of this data via an email on his

Blackberry and, after a few minutes, receives a response.

Finally, he prints out a full-color, 150-page report on his hi-tech, miniaturized HP LaserJet printer and finally turns to the cowboy and says, "You have exactly 1586 cows and calves." "That's right. Well, I guess you can take one of my calves," says the cowboy.

He watches the young man select one of the animals and looks on amused as the young man stuffs it into the trunk of his car.

Then the cowboy says to the young man, "Hey, if I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me back my calf?" The young man thinks about it for a second and then says, "Okay, why not?"

"You're a consultant." says the cowboy.

"Wow! That's correct," says the yuppie, "but how did you guess that?"

"No guessing required." answered the cowboy. "You showed up here even though nobody called you; you want to get paid for an answer I already knew, to a question I never asked; and you don't know anything about my business... ...Now give me back my dog."

I find this extra-amusing since my brother is interviewing with management consulting firms right now. Good luck, brother! Perhaps your first case assignment will be on a cattle ranch. =)

The Mom Song

2008-12-18T23:10:00.000-08:00

This is a neat video from YouTube.

It's not easy being a mom, that's for sure.

Footprints in the sand

2008-12-16T15:14:00.000-08:00

I've heard a couple of people reference this story before. Here is one version of it:

One night a man had a dream. He dreamed He was walking along the beach with the LORD. Across the sky flashed scenes from His life. For each scene He noticed two sets of footprints in the sand. One belonging to Him and the other to the LORD.

When the last scene of His life flashed before Him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of His life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times of His life.

This really bothered Him and He questioned the LORD about it. LORD you said that once I decided to follow you, you'd walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life there is only one set of footprints. I don't understand why when I needed you most you would leave me.

The LORD replied, my precious, precious child, I Love you and I would never leave you! During your times of trial and suffering when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.

I really like this story since it's a good reminder that God is always with us - when we need Him the most and when we (perhaps) acknowledge His presence and support the least.

Father John Corapi

2008-12-15T21:42:00.000-08:00

I've listened to Father Corapi speak a number of times on Catholic radio (I don't get BYU Radio in my area in the car). I struggle sometimes to follow the Catholic-specific references but, on a whole, I've always enjoyed and benefited from what he has to say. This video on YouTube recounts his conversion experience and provides a really nice example of what he has to say (and how he says it). If you're Christian (or even if you aren't), I would wholeheartedly recommend Father Corapi.

Bethlehem (Santa Clara)

2008-12-15T20:39:00.000-08:00

Tonight, for family home evening, we went to Bethlehem at the Santa Clara First Baptist Church. I was really surprised at how extensive their production was - live actors, a live baby Jesus, live animals, a full-size market place, etc. A very, very cool experience. In the middle of the production, one of the performers was singing Silent Night. Half way through, the audience spontaneously joined in - a special moment for sure.

South Park explains the history of the Mormons

2008-12-15T14:39:00.001-08:00

A friend of mine sent me this episode from South Park. It's a parody and exaggerates things to make them funny. There are some inaccuracies, of course, and I obviously don't agree with the final conclusion of one of the characters. But, considering the group who put this together, I was expecting way worse so I was pleasantly surprised. The Mormon cultural stuff (like FHE) was particuarly funny to me.

As an aside, if you watch the video and are interested in the objection at the end, feel free to read this - particularly the section entitled "the wisdom of the Lord is greater than the cunning of the devil".

The Law of Chastity

2008-11-30T20:39:00.001-08:00

I taught a Sunday School class today on the Law of Chastity (also see here). For those of you not familiar with this topic, here is a quick refresher. Chastity is sexual purity. Those who are chaste are morally clean in their thoughts, words, and actions. Chastity means not having any sexual relations before marriage (see 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 and 1 Thessalonians 4:3, for example). It also means complete fidelity to husband or wife during marriage (see Exodus 20:14). This includes keeping our thoughts clean (see Matthew 5:27-28).

This can be a bit of an awkward topic - especially at church. Things got off to a slow start but the discussion ended up being pretty good. I incorporated some of the recent research I did on divorce rates (see prior post) in the context of chastity before marriage. I have to admit that my opinions on that topic have changed a lot over the last year. I also asked people to think about a statement by Alma (a Book of Mormon prophet) that sexual sins are more serious than any other sins except murder and denying the Holy Ghost (see Alma 39:3-5). After marriage, I could see how this could be true. I haven't fully reconciled that severity for myself in the context of premarital relations. As with other sins, though, sexual sins can be forgiven through the Atonement of Christ.

I have a really strong testimony of the Law of Chastity - especially in the context of marriage - and I pray that the Lord will continue to help me keep it in my marriage (especially as it pertains to inappropriate thoughts).

Divorce rate

2008-11-30T20:00:00.000-08:00

A co-worker and I were discussing marriage the other day and I wondered out loud why the divorce rate is as high as it is in the United States. I had heard that the divorce rate is around 50% but never looked into why. The other night, I did a couple of Google searches on the topic and turned up some interesting information. On this site, I found out that 50% of first marriages, 67% of second and 74% of third marriages end in divorce, according to Jennifer Baker of the Forest Institute of Professional Psychology in Springfield, Missouri. According to enrichment journal on the divorce rate in America, the divorce rate in America for first marriage is 41%, 60% second marriages, and 73% for third marriages. In 2005, the National Fatherhood Initiative performed a national survey on marriage in America (see report). It's a long report but some of the more notable findings from my perspective were that the three leading causes of divorce were: “lack of commitment” of one or both spouses, “too much conflict and arguing”and “infidelity.” Other frequently cited reasons were “married too young,” “unrealistic expectations,”“lack of preparation,” and“inequality.”

Two questions on the survey asked ever-divorced respondents (a) if they wished that they, themselves, had worked harder to save the marriage, and (b) if they wished their ex-spouse had done so. Only about a third of the respondents answered no to both questions, and 62 percent of both the ex-husbands and the ex-wives answered yes to the question about their ex-spouse’s efforts. Neither this finding nor the fact that “lack of commitment” was the most frequently chosen reason for the respondents’ divorces is consistent with the claim made by some commentators on American marriage that most divorces occur only after the spouses have done their best to make the marriage work.

Another unexpected finding from the survey related to cohabitation.

During the past several years, a majority of American couples who married were living with one another before they married, and the belief that it is a good idea to live with someone before deciding to marry that person has become widespread. The reasoning is that if couples test their compatibility by living together before they marry, many bad marriages will be prevented. It is indeed likely that a good many couples have decided not to marry after discovering that they do not get along well in a cohabiting relationship. Nevertheless, numerous recent studies have shown that couples who live together before marriage are more likely to divorce than those who do not cohabit premaritally. The NFIMS findings shown in Figure 13 add to the findings that premarital cohabitation is not associated with marital success, though the marriages of those who live together only after they have decided to marry apparently turn out better on the average than the marriages of couples who decide to marry while they are cohabiting. There is agreement among researchers who have studied this topic that the marriages of persons who live together before marriage turn out poorly on the average partly because of the kinds of persons who cohabit. These persons tend to be nontraditional in their attitudes, and nontraditional attitudes are not conducive to marital success. It is also possible that the cohabitation itself has negative effects on marriage. For instance, a casual decision to live with someone may start a process that ends with marriage to that person, even though more suitable partners are available. That is, cohabitation may often be a form of “premature entanglement,” which limits the person’s ability to circulate “on the marriage market” to test his or her desirability on the market and to find a highly suitable partner.

In Figure 13 (referenced above), we find out that couples that did not cohabit prior to marriage are 2x more likely to have marital success than those who did cohabit before getting engaged and about 1.5x more likely than those who decided to cohabit after getting engaged.

There was lots of good information available on divorcereform.org (although the site doesn't appear to be functional at the moment). Some of the things I remember seeing there was data that indicated that people who get married young (in their teens or early twenties) have the highest divorce rate. There was a "peak marriage period" from 23 to 28 years old (give or take a year) where marriages were the most successful. And then divorce rate went back up for marriages after 30 years old. There was a strong link between divorce rates going up overall and the introduction of "no fault divorces" about 25 years ago (perhaps this anti-Prop 8 video is onto something - even though the true intent of the video is satire of those favoring traditional marriage). And there was a LA Times article from around 2000 that said that the divorce rate for those who get married in LDS temples is about 6% whereas LDS marriages outside the temple experience the same divorce rate as the general population.

I'm sure I've only scratched the surface of this topic but some interesting findings to consider.

India videos

2008-11-30T19:42:00.000-08:00

Over the last couple of days, I've watched 9 hours of video related to India - three movies and one travel guide. The movies were Pinjar (3 hours), The Namesake (2 hours), and Gandhi (3 hours) and the travel guide was by GlobeTrekker (the 1 hour portion on West India). All of this is in preparation for my trip to Kolkata in January with my father. I've been trying to get a better feel for India as a country and the specific events that influenced who my father is today. Pinjar and Gandhi were particularly helpful in terms of understanding the Partition of India and the ensuing violence and family dislocations. It's one thing to think about that time conceptually but it's another thing to see some of those events visually depicted and think about what it must have been like to live through that period of time. The Namesake was helpful to understand the challenges that first- and second-generation Indian families face here in the United States - in terms of culture clash and other issues. I don't think I was ever sensitive enough to this topic - since I didn't spend much time trying to really understand it. And the travel guide was helpful to see Kolkata in action and get a glimpse of what I will see and experience there.

The catch-phrase for The Namesake is "the greatest journeys are the ones that bring you home". I suspect that will be true about this trip in January.

LIFE photo archive

2008-11-19T14:37:00.000-08:00

I love old photos. So I think it's super-cool that there is now a LIFE photo archive hosted by Google. Take a look around. There are lots of neat photos posted there.

I'm Watching You Dad

2008-11-17T10:00:00.001-08:00

I watched this video last night and thought it was a good reminder that my everyday actions are setting an example for my two boys - whether positive or negative.

I also received this "Family Gem" this morning via email entitled "Brethren Should Maintain Priorities":

As I meet with priesthood leaders, I often ask about the priorities of their various responsibilities. Usually they mention their important Church duties to which they have been called. Too few remember their responsibilities at home. Yet priesthood offices, keys, callings, and quorums are meant to exalt families (see D&C 23:3). Priesthood authority has been restored so that families can be sealed eternally. So brethren, your foremost priesthood duty is to nurture your marriage—to care for, respect, honor, and love your wife. Be a blessing to her and your children.

Hopefully I'm doing an ok job of balancing everything and setting a reasonable example for my kids. I feel I could do a better job as a role model for exercise, prayer, and scripture study.

Not fumbling the football

2008-11-13T23:08:00.001-08:00

I was talking with a friend of mine tonight and he made this analogy that I thought was really useful. He pointed out that being the most talented person on the field doesn't do you any good if you fumble the football. He was talking about this in the context of making good choices in our lives. We might be incredibly talented or have other gifts but they won't do us any good if we make bad choices in our lives - especially if we make the same bad choices over and over again. For him, so much of success in life is simply holding onto the ball. That might seem obvious but I thought it was pretty profound.

Safe, respected, and loved

2008-11-11T08:55:00.000-08:00

We've been a little hit-or-miss with having weekly family meetings but we're trying to keep up the habit. At our family meeting last night, one of the topics I wanted to discussed is how members of our family can feel safe, respected, and loved. Here's what resulted from the discussion (see PDF). I'm always surprised at the insightful things that the kids come up with on their own.

A Fine Balance

2008-11-09T20:09:00.000-08:00

I recently read a book called A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. It is a masterfully written fiction book about India between 1975 and 1984. My mother suggested that I read it since I'll be visiting India in January with my father to see family there. The book certainly gave me a much better feel - at a very personal level - of the struggles that so many went through in that country (and still go through today). Right before the table of contents, the author includes this quote from Honore de Balzac in Le Pere Goriot: "Holding this book in your hand, sinking back in your soft armchair, you will say to yourself: perhaps it will amuse me. And after you read this story of great misfortunes, you will no doubt dine well, blaming the author for your own insensitivity, accusing him of wild exaggeration and flights of fancy. But rest assured: this tragedy is not a fiction. All is true." I can't think of a better summary for this book. Reading this book reminded me of how many blessings I have in my life that I so often take for granted - a place to live, food to eat, freedom, a loving family, and hope for my children's future (to name a few). The book also made me realize how little I probably know about my father and what it must have been like for him to grow up under challenging circumstances in India.

As an aside, I had thinking that I should try to read some books in preparation for my trip to India but I couldn't decide what to read. The very day I was thinking about this, A Fine Balance arrived in the mail from my mom. It's hard for me to believe that's simply a coincidence - and I am very grateful for so many keeping a watchful eye over me.

Special time

2008-11-08T21:18:00.000-08:00

The last couple of months, they boys have been competing for attention more and more. JD is quite forward and demanding in terms of attracting attention. AJ has, in some situations, resorted to attracting negative attention - at least unconsciously assuming that negative attention is still better than no attention. In response to all of this, my wife and I decided to devote Saturday's to dedicated, one-on-one time with kids. Each Saturday, we alternate which parent is with which kid and that kid gets undivided attention (without having to compete for it). So far, it seems to be working quite well - especially for AJ.

Here's a quick summary of what I've done with the boys the first four Saturdays.

Week #1: AJ

AJ and I went to the Oakland Zoo and saw animals and went on some rides. We stopped by the visitor's center at the Oakland Temple and then we got lunch. We went to Tilden Park after that and rode the train, went to a playground, went to the Nature Center, gathered some leaves, went to the Little Farm, rode a carousel, and got ice cream.

Week #2: JD

JD and I helped with a clean-up at the church building. We went to Target and bought some Pokemon cards. We came home, cleaned out the Altima (which had needed a good cleaning for awhile), had some lunch, and learned how to play Pokemon. Then we went to JD's soccer game. Afterwards, JD and I went on a two and a half hour bike ride to Shoreline Park and back - including a stop at 7-Eleven on the way home to buy Gatorade. Since JD hadn't had enough physical activity that day, we wrapped up by playing more sports at his school until it got dark.

Week #3: AJ

AJ and I went up to Pier 39 in San Francisco. We went to the Aquarium of the Bay - which has some cool exhibits. We saw the sea lions and got some lunch. We also bought some ballons at the magic store and some cookies at Mrs. Fields. We were planning to spend the whole day up in San Francisco but it was raining pretty hard so we headed home. The ballons we got included some instructions on how to make dogs, swords, and other ballon animals. It took a little practice but I was able to figure out how to make dogs pretty well. So we ended up making 8 of them - four for our family and four for another family. Then we rented the movie "Thomas and Friends: The Great Discovery", popped some popcorn, and watched the movie together. Afterwards, we took one of the balloon families over to one of AJ's friends along with two of the cookies.

Week #4: JD

JD and I practiced soccer at his school and played 2006 FIFA World Cup on the Playstation 2. It was JD's first time playing home video games. We went to his soccer game (and his Uncle DE and cousin SE came along). Then we started playing Pokemon, went to lunch at California Pizza Kitchen, and came home to finish our Pokemon game (which JD won since he stacked the deck in his favor). JD used the computer for a bit while I (unfortunately) took care of something for work. Then we went to Sky High Sports - and had dinner at Jack in the Box while we were out.

If you have suggestions on cool things for me or my wife to do with the kids, please let me know.

Randy Pausch Last Lecture

2008-11-07T21:50:00.000-08:00

My brother-in-law DE pointed me to this video awhile ago but I just watched it tonight. The CMU professor giving this final lecture has since passed away but imparted some wisdom to a packed house. He also subsequently wrote a book.

The video wasn't what I was expecting - and was a bit slow at times - but I still think it was a good use of time to watch. I especially like the end.

Yes we can

2008-11-05T08:53:00.000-08:00

I'm not usually into politics. I vote in every election and research the issues. I strongly believe that's my responsibility and duty as part of living in a democratic society. But I usually don't get too fired up one way or the other based on the outcomes. This election was a little different - especially near the end. I'm hopeful that President-Elect Barack Obama can get this country back on track and do it in a way that restores the United States as a beacon of hope for so many people in the world who don't enjoy the same freedoms and opportunities we do.

I thought President-Elect Obama gave a masterful victory speech last night in Chicago. If you haven't seen it, it is contained here:

I believe that America can do many great things in the coming years and decades and stand ready to do my part to make that happen.

What’s So Great about Christianity?

2008-11-02T21:54:00.000-08:00

I listened to a really great audio recording the other day by Dinesh D'Souza. It was linked off of this page on the ExploreFaith.org site. In this talk delivered at Fixed Point Foundation’s Latimer House in Birmingham, Alabama, What’s So Great about Christianity author D’Souza zeros in on what he feels to be the new atheism's strongest arguments against Christianity.

Countering each is D’Souza’s way of clearing aside some of the obstacles that prevent our “having an experience of Christianity, an experience of God.” He offers a “bullet-proof vest” for Christians to answer the charges leveled by those who view religion as evil, imagined and unnecessary by making claims such as:

God is inconsequential;
Virtuous living can be practiced by atheists just as readily as by people of faith;
Science and religion are at odds;
Religion has caused or been complicit in the great crimes of history.

He then focuses on the motives of the new atheists, what compels the vigor and vehemence of their attacks. For D’Souza the more we know about faith, science and history, the easier it is for us to see the holes in arguments espoused by religion’s detractors.

The talk is about 45 minutes and I found it to be really interesting and valuable. D'Souza lays out his arguments in a very clear and reasonable way. If you're a Christian, it's well worth the time to listen to this talk.

Christ’s Ideals for Living

2008-11-02T21:46:00.000-08:00

A person at church sent this around via email.

This is from the 1954 Sunday School manual "Christ’s Ideals for Living". The author was O. C. Tanner. He taught philosophy at the University of Utah, and his autobiography, One Man’s Search for Freedom, tells that President David McKay asked him to write a manual for Sunday School use. Tanner replied he was too liberal-minded to pass the reading committee of General Authorities. President McKay said, “We’ll change the committee” and placed liberal apostle Adam Bennion in charge. The manual passed just fine and was used throughout the 50s and 60s as the Sunday School text, known as Christ’s Ideals for Living.

Quote from SS manual:
Young people sometimes doubt the truth of the Gospel or some part of it, and feeling the worthy desire to be sincere, they cease to be active in the Church. The answer to them is to be sincere always. One must never violate one’s integrity, whatever it may cost. But must one believe all or nothing? Must one cut off Church participation-the great source of righteousness in one’s life and in the community, because there is some doctrine doubted or disbelieved? Rather, is it not wisdom to begin, not with doubts and faults, but with the simple truths and virtues one can believe, then move on from there to others? Surely no one would claim to know all the Gospel. Great truths are always just around the corner for those who seek. Jesus told us to knock, seek, and ask, not just once, but continuously. One step at a time applies to progress in the Gospel as it does to education or any worthwhile achievement. One is not a hypocrite if he has honest questions and is active in the Church at the same time. The leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would offer this suggestion:

Start where you are. What do you believe? Start with that and take it as far as you can down life’s highway. Another truth will meet you at nearly every bend in the road. God has never intended that an honest mind should be humiliated or made unwelcome in the Church by any other member because of honest inquiry. Above all, keep the virtues of integrity, sincerity, and genuineness. Nothing else can be right in a man’s life if he is not sincere.

Gospel-sharing messages

2008-11-02T20:53:00.001-08:00

Each month, as part of my responsibility as a ward missionary (at church), I've been sending out short emails to people in the ward (congregation) with suggestions on how to share information about the LDS Church with others. In case others are interested, I've created an archive and will update it each month. As part of writing each message, I have prayed that Heavenly Father would help me to know what would be most useful to people and how best to convey that message. I have felt his support and guidance with these messages so if you find them helpful, it is thanks to Him, not me. As an aside, the same thing goes for the Sunday School class I taught today on obedience. I wasn't prepared for the lesson but, thanks to an answered prayer, the class went well. I am very grateful for the support.

Steve Jobs at NeXT

2008-10-23T17:11:00.001-07:00

This is a really good video of Steve Jobs doing a "chalk talk" while he was at NeXT. The clarity and simplicity of the message is great. I'm continuing to try to improve with presentations and other communications to convey complicated information in a way that people can readily understand it. This is a good example.

Our Tax System Explained: Bar Stool Economics

2008-10-23T13:45:00.000-07:00

A co-worker of mine forwarded this "essay" to me by David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D., Professor of Economics at the University of Georgia.

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. 'Since you are all such good customers,' he said, 'I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20.' Drinks for the ten now cost just $80. The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his fair share?' They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay. And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings. 'I only got a dollar out of the $20,'declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,' but he got $10!' 'Yeah, that's right,' exclaimed the fifth man. 'I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I got' 'That's true!!' shouted the seventh man. 'Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!' 'Wait a minute,' yelled the first four men in unison. 'We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!' The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up. The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill! And that, ladies and gentlemen, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy,and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

I'm not sure that I totally agree with the conclusions but it's an interesting perspective and certainly one way of discussing this topic that made some intuitive sense to me.

Serving Others

2008-10-19T15:03:00.000-07:00

My son AJ was asked to give a talk today in Primary (the group of 4 to 12 year olds at church). I ended up serving as his speechwriter but he did a great job today saying it for the other kids. He's what he had to say:

I was asked to talk about how I can serve Heavenly Father by serving others. Serving others means that we help them feel better when they are hurt. We can help them solve a problem or we can do something nice for them. Sometimes when people pray for help, their prayers are answered by something we do for them. In 1 Nephi 16:29, it says that “by small means the Lord can bring about great things”. And, in Mosiah 2:17, it says “when [you] are in the service of your fellow beings [you] are only in the service of your God”. It feels good to do nice things for other people and it makes our Heavenly Father happy too.

A little while ago, JH’s family was moving. I carried some of their boxes down the stairs to their moving truck. It was fun to spend time with mey dad and my brother and they said “thank you” for helping them move. Sometimes my Aunt BE needs to go to an appointment so my mom and I take care of my cousin SE. He’s still a baby. Sometimes SE cries but we are able to make him feel better. I share my toys with him. It feels nice to take care of other people.

Yesterday, me and my dad went to the Oakland temple. While we were there, one of the sister missionaries gave me this cool keychain. It can change colors. When you put it in the sun, it turns blue. She said that people can change too. Some people don’t know that Heavenly Father and Jesus love them. If you do something nice for them, maybe they’ll change and want to learn more about Jesus. Or maybe they’ll do something nice for someone else. That would be really cool.

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

There are plenty of people who need each of our help. It is my sincere hope and prayer that we'll serve them.

AIG humor

2008-10-13T08:46:00.000-07:00

Speaking to the Institute of International Finance, AIG Vice Chairman Jacob Frenkel said: "The left side of the balance sheet has nothing right and the right side of the balance sheet has nothing left. But they are equal to each other. So accounting-wise we are fine." At least there's a silver-lining in all this. =)