Listening Counts

This is a paper I wrote for my English class. This could be the first of many that I share from this class, but I have no idea for certain. The topic we were asked to discuss this time around was a significant moment from our lives. Yeah, no easy task! I decided to talk about an experience on my mission where I clearly saw the value of listening to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Hope you all enjoy it!

It’s July 3, 2009, and I’m in Wilmington, OH at about the halfway point of my mission. My new companion, Elder Remington, and I feel that change is in the air. Change for the better. At this time, I have been in Wilmington for six months and have been to pretty much every street and every door in the area. Well, all of them except the roads  with houses few and far between, surrounded by endless miles of corn and soy bean fields that are nearly ripe at this time of year. With the nice weather, people are spending increasing amounts of time outside, and both Elder Remington and myself feel that we need to take a new approach to finding people to teach, and this is our opportunity.

“So, where should we start?” he asks me during our morning studies. I reply, “Well, I’ve always wanted to go to the local parks because there’s usually plenty of people there that we can talk to.”

“Yeah, that would definitely be a good place to start,” he responds. We decide to go to J.W. Denver Williams Park, the biggest one in the area. Being the middle of summer, it’s also very hot and humid out, but that obviously doesn’t keep us from doing our work. Despite it being ridiculously warm, Ohio is very green and has amazing scenery. The park is no exception: A bike trail wending its way through the park, a walking trail in a mini-forest, playgrounds, green baseball fields, basketball courts, and picnic tables. All of these surrounded by large, blooming trees and a pond filled with ducks. As we arrive at the park, we get the feeling that there’s someone here that we are supposed to talk to. The Lord has placed them here specifically for us.  We walk past a dad and his son fishing in the pond, but don’t feel like we’re supposed to talk to them. Unfortunately, it seems as though they are the only ones in the park, which is unusual given the nice weather. However, we decide to walk through the park a couple of times before figuring out what to do next. On our first pass, we don’t see anyone besides the dad and son by the pond. Elder Remington suggests that we make a wider pass around the park rather than taking the trail that cuts through, in order to give potential contacts some time to get there. As we near the end of our second pass, we spot three people across the field on the basketball court. We glance at each other and the same thought crosses our mind: “This is our best chance, and I have a good feeling about it.” As we start walking towards them, we discover that it’s two guys and a girl, all of them around our age. This makes it easier to carry on a conversation. The two guys, named Ryan Starks and Britt Wells, are playing basketball, and the girl---Kim Wells, Ryan’s girlfriend and Britt’s older sister--- is sitting off to the side with a cigarette and a baby boy named Charlie next to her in a car-seat. We split up to teach them, Elder Remington taking Ryan and Britt and me teaching Kim. The first thing she asks me is why I’m wearing a white shirt and tie with dark pants in such hot weather. It’s a question I got asked quite a lot during the summers on my mission, but one that actually intrigued people when I answered that I was a missionary. Her next question showed me that much: “What is it about your message that makes you different from other churches?” A golden question, and the perfect introduction to first message that we share: The Restoration of the gospel through Joseph Smith. As I go through each principle, I stop occasionally to explain things she hasn’t heard before and answer other questions she has. Kim, and as I learn later, Ryan as well, ask great questions. It’s something that I saw a lot during my mission: College-age young adults asking deep and sincere questions. Like me, they are at the stage of life where they are mulling over life-changing decisions. Like Ryan and Kim, this makes them great prospects for the message of the restored gospel. As I finish up my message, Ryan and Britt come over with Elder Remington, having concluded their discussion. We both bore our testimonies, and were just about to finish with a prayer and leave when I get the strongest impression; in fact, it was one of the strongest that I received during my whole mission. I knew that Ryan and Kim were the people that the Lord had placed in our path that day. The impression I received further told me that I needed to give them a specific reading assignment in the Book of Mormon and some things to think about while they read it. I told them, “As you read, write down questions you have as well as things that you learn. By doing this, I promise that you will know what direction in life that God wants you to take.” The words just flowed out, without hesitation and without stuttering. I know that I couldn’t have spoken those words without help from above. We concluded with a prayer and set a return appointment for two days later. 

When the day for our follow-up visit came, we headed to the address they gave us, and Ryan was there to greet us at the door. I’ll never forget what he said when he opened the door: “Hey Mormons, come right on in!” We sat down on the couch, with Ryan straight across from us in an armchair and Kim next to him on another couch. After a prayer, we asked them what questions they had and what they learned from their reading assignment. Ryan reached down and picked up a yellow note pad that had detailed notes on both sides. In addition to that, the pamphlet we gave them was heavily written on as well. Elder Remington and I had the biggest smiles. We went through and discussed each of the things they had learned and answered their questions the best we could. At the end, Ryan said to us: “Before we met you guys the other day, we had questions about what we should do with the spiritual aspect of our lives. Just this one reading answered some of those questions. We want to look into this some more.” For Ryan and Kim, this was the beginning of a new stage in their lives. Five or so months after we met them on that hot, humid day in a park in Wilmington, OH, they were baptized. I still keep in touch with them fairly regularly; they told me that even though they have had many different sets of missionaries since us, we will always be the ones they remember most, because we not only first taught them the gospel, but because we were friends to them at the same time. This is a key to being a successful missionary, and ultimately any calling in the Church: You have to be a friend to people or else you can’t teach them anything. However, the overall point I’m trying to make is this: What if Elder Remington and I had chosen not to go to the park? We never would’ve met Ryan and Kim, and therefore we would never have gotten the opportunity to teach them the gospel, and obviously we wouldn’t have had the chance to make a difference in their lives. Truly, listening to thoughts and impressions count. It can have eternal consequences for us and those around us. When promptings come, we should never postpone them for any reason. Nothing is worse than knowing what might have been had you listened.

A tribute to my Ducks

It really began at the age of 9. Yeah, I'd worn over-sized "1995 Rose Bowl" sweatshirts and hats that were too big, but the spark for my adoration of the Oregon Ducks didn't really happen until my family and I moved back to Eugene in 1998. The Ducks weren't bad that year. Akili Smith was being touted as the best quarterback in the country by many media and opposing coaches, and Oregon ended up turning it what was, for them anyway, a pretty good season from what they had been accustomed to. It shocks many people to look at the Ducks now and then to be told that they were once the laughingstock of the Pac-10. I didn't live during those days, but I know plenty of die-hard fans who did. North Eugene High School used to hold their football games at Autzen Stadium. My grandpa took me to quite a few of them, and almost always we'd have a hot dog and soda or something like that. I enjoyed watching those games, even though North wasn't always the best. The thing I remember best about those Friday nights was, of course, Autzen. That was during the time where you went through a fence and then had to walk up a hill just to get inside the stadium. It's much less strenuous now, although I do miss being able to occasionally run down those hills. Eventually, North Eugene got a new field installed at their school and didn't need to hold their games at Autzen. It was rather disappointing to learn the news. Then, two things happened that brought my "fanhood" of the Ducks to a completely different level. The first was that Oregon started to be a pretty good team from year to year, and I was getting to the age where my attention span slightly improved so that I could actually watch them for more than a couple quarters. The second was that I met a kid my age named Benjamin Steig. His family had recently moved to Eugene not long before our family, and we were in the same ward. We became friends almost overnight, and he told me that his dad's job was one that could get them regular tickets to Duck games. The first one I can remember going to was in 1999, although I actually went with my Uncle Michael. We beat Nevada 72-10! This was unheard of for the Ducks! First of all because teams almost never score that many points in a football game, and secondly because it was the Ducks who did all the scoring!

On that day, I sensed that Oregon was a team that I should start following a little more closely, and thanks to my rapidly developing friendship with Ben and his family, that started to materialize. Ben only lived about 10 minutes away from me, so it was just more convenient to hop on my bike and head over there. We would play baseball, basketball, and football, hang out in his hot tub, get Slurpees, play video games....well, you get the idea. However, there was one thing that stood above the rest, and that was getting on our bikes, hopping on the bike path, and riding over to Autzen Stadium for no other reason than to see the stadium. By this time, Oregon was starting to get some serious national attention, due to their new-wave uniforms and ever-increasing budget provided by "Uncle Phil," Nike CEO and co-founder Phil Knight, an Oregon alumnus. I'll never forget when it was announced that Autzen would be adding over 12,000 seats to give the stadium close to 60,000. That was a very big deal, and a sign that our fan-base was growing. By no means is Autzen even close to the biggest stadium in college football....but no one who goes to a game there can tell me that any other place could possibly be louder than that. Our fans travel very well, and you can always hear them clearly in opposing stadiums. I remember going to Autzen and being blown away by how loud it was, but it was a good kind of loud. It is music to my ears, and the ears of every Oregon fan on the planet.

Ask any Oregon fan when the fortunes of the football team began to change, and if they know their history, they will ALL say October 22, 1994. Up against the Washington Huskies at Autzen, late in the game, clinging to a lead, and a freshman corner named Kenny Wheaton makes what is simply referred to as "The Pick." Everything changes from then on. Great players and teams become the norm. The 1998 team, a high-powered offense led by QB Akili Smith, WR's Tony Hartley and Damon Griffin, and RB Reuben Droughns. The 1999 and 2000 teams, which introduced everyone to "Captain Comeback," QB Joey Harrington, and then the 2001 team which rode Harrington, RB's Maurice Morris and Onterrio Smith, WR's Keenan Howry, Samie Parker, and Jason Willis, and an inspired and underrated defense to an 11-1 season and Fiesta Bowl win. The 2005 team, which was the year I moved back to Utah, may have been the most-surprisingly successful group in school history. The previous year had been hyped up because Oregon was shooting for their 10th straight winning season, a big deal for a school that had long been used to football failure. Let's just say that 2004 was maybe the darkest year because of all the failed expectations. However, the 2005 group redeemed themselves. QB Kellen Clemens led the spread offense, and was surrounded with play-makers in RB's Terrence Whitehead and Jonathan Stewart, plus a solid group of wideouts led by Demetrius Williams. The defense was anchored by mammoth tackle Haloti Ngata, the most heralded recruit in school history who was named a consensus All-American at season's end. The 2007 team, Chip Kelly's first as offensive coordinator, who dominated opponents with their quick-strike offense led by QB Dennis Dixon and RB Jonathan Stewart. Only an unfortunate knee injury late in the year kept Dixon from winning the Heisman and Oregon from playing for the national title. From 2008-2010, Oregon's record is 32-7, and thanks to Kelly's system as well as his fearless approach, the Ducks seemed poised for even greater success.

And who can forget some of our greatest moments? All the comebacks led by Harrington, the greatest perhaps in 2000 against Arizona State; game-winning field goals against USC in 1999 and 2001; Onterrio Smith's record-setting performance against Washington St. in 2001; Howry's punt return TD in that year's Civil War to seal a BCS berth; the domination of Colorado in the Fiesta Bowl to show the nation and computer "experts" that they belonged in the title game; beating #3 Michigan at Autzen in 2003. I elected to stay home and watch the game rather than accompany the Scouts on a trip to hike the South Sister; the 2005 Civil War at Autzen, called the Fog Bowl, in which Oregon smashed the Beavs 56-14 to finish the regular season 10-1; the comeback that shouldn't have been in 2006 against Oklahoma, which ended when Oregon blocked the Sooners' last-second FG attempt to complete an improbable turnaround in which they trailed by 13 with 2:30 seconds left and had some help by the refs (we'll take it!); beating Michigan AGAIN in 2007 at the Big House by a score of 39-7, setting the stage for a fun year despite Dixon's late-season injury; denying the Beavers a trip to the Rose Bowl in 2008 with a 65-38 whooping in Corvallis; earning our own trip to Pasadena in 2009 by again taking down Oregon State. And, well you know the great memories from this season.

These are just some of the reasons why I love to be a fan of the Oregon Ducks. It's kind of hard to live in Eugene and not root for them. Falls in Eugene are heaven for anyone who supports the green and yellow. Rain or shine, you can count on a full house on Saturday's in Autzen, where great teams go to die. Oregon is not like other traditional programs, and they don't try to be. We have our own unique tradition, our own style. Catchy Nike uniforms with the latest technology, facilities that no one can hold a candle to, a locker room I'd like to live in, a mascot who does push-ups after every score, a billionaire sponsor, College Gameday's yearly visits, spirit tee-shirts every year, Win The Day, a team who practices even faster than they play, insane fans who yell entire games without losing their voices, a Harley Davidson, Supwitchugirl, Autzen PA man Don Essig telling us that "It never rains in Autzen Stadium," even when it's raining, being able to go on the field after every game. These are the kinds of things that make me smile and never have any regrets that I am a fan of the Oregon Ducks. Eugene would not be the same place without them. Anyone who visits there or who has ever lived there knows exactly what I'm talking about. Every time I go back there, I make it a point of visiting Autzen. Part of me is lodged there. Before this season, Ben and I took our traditional walk along the bike path to Autzen and talked about the upcoming year. We felt the Ducks had a chance to be pretty good, but we didn't know just how good. On this day, we were lucky enough to find the Ducks practicing behind the Moshofsky Center. We had never even got this close to the team during games! Little did we know how the season would progress. I have to admit that as the Ducks took the field in Glendale last night, I started shaking and my eyes got a bit watery. I was glad that Brent Musberger and Kirk Herbstreit didn't say anything during that moment. The amazing thing about this season is that it is only the beginning of even greater days for the Ducks. They will never again be the laughingstock they once were: Chip Kelly's recruiting and Phil Knight's wallet will make sure of that. The great ones always bounce back, while the rest just make excuses. Lastly, I will close with words that every Duck fan is familiar with, or at the very least they know the sound:

Oregon, our Alma Mater, we will
guard thee on and on.
Fellows gather 'round and cheer
her; chant her glory, Oregon.
Roar the praises of her warriors,
sing the glory, Oregon;
On to victory urge the heroes of
our Mighty Oregon!

Win The Day. Fast. Hard. Finish.

A weekend to end all weekends

First of all, I wanted to wish everyone a Merry (late) Christmas! This has certainly been a great one for me so far, especially considering it was my first one at home since before my mission. I'd have to say that the two Christmases I spent in the mission field were unique and remarkable experiences. Nothing can compare with them, and likewise there is nothing that compares with Christmas at home. I received several new books, including Pres. Monson's biography and an NBA Coaches Playbook, which should help me a great deal in my future coaching aspirations. I also pretty much quadrupled the number of Oregon Duck's apparel that I own, meaning that I can now probably where a different shirt practically every day for a month! OK, so maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but you get the idea. Also had another excellent Christmas dinner prepared by Mom; all I can is that roast was WAY good! A definite highlight of the day, which came as a great surprise, was being called by Shawntae Stone and her kids, a remarkable family that I had the privilege of teaching and baptizing while in Cincinnati. We talked for well over an hour, and I found out that they have not missed a Sunday since they joined the Church and remain active and involved in many ways! I was also called by another Cincinnati investigator named Michelle Baker, who called to wish me a Merry Christmas and tell me that she was doing well and going through rehab so she can get baptized! Elder Kirk and are worked for countless hours with these beloved individuals and families, and it was a tremendous blessing to hear how well they are doing. Isn't the gospel just great?! Today was a very busy Sunday! I had the opportunity of speaking with my Dad, who is on our stake high council, in 3 different wards! I've obviously never spoken that many times in one day, but I enjoy speaking and it was a very spiritual experience each time. We both spoke on the subject of agency and choosing to follow the example of the Savior. We received many handshakes and compliments from the congregations afterwards, and I spoke with many individuals who were familiar either with elders who served in my mission, the areas in Ohio and Kentucky, or were directly related to members that I knew. One of them introduced himself as Bro. Fish, who was related to the Bang Family that started the Church in Cincinnati! He is also the first cousin of Ralph Blackwelder, who's family lives in Cincinnati and is very well known and whom I spent lots of quality time with. I know all those names pretty well, especially considering I own a book that details the history of the Church in the Cincinnati area. Small world, isn't it? The capstone to the day was spending the evening with the Heaton family, members of our ward who we have a great friendship with. Bro. Heaton was my YM President when we moved into the ward, and he likes to invite returned missionaries over to share their experiences, and that's exactly what we did. It was an awesome experience and certainly had me longing for my mission BIG TIME. There's just not enough good things I can say about what my mission has done for me, and I won't attempt to summarize them here. Boy, after a weekend like this, I have so much to be reminded of and grateful for! What a wonderful thing the Church is!!

The Heroic Journey

For my Humanities class, our final essay asked us to summarize 4 different subjects that we discussed throughout the semester, and how they relate to what is known as the Heroic Journey. The following is my best attempt to describe this. Hopefully you learn something. :)

I would like to begin with a story that I often used on my mission to illustrate the importance of how we can move forward in the journey called life. I hope this may be a fitting introduction into the topic of how the Heroic Journey has applied to me, and specifically a focus on Creation, Abraham, Sacred Spaces, and Temples.

            

A man hired a young boy, whose father owned a small boat, to row him across a lake. About halfway across the man noticed a “W” painted on one oar and an “F” on the other. When he asked what the letters meant, he was told that F stood for FAITH and W stood for WORKS. The boy explained, “If you just row with faith, you go in circles to your left; and if you row only with works, you go in circles to your right. In order to go straight ahead you have to use both of them.” The same principle applies to life. If we just use faith, or only works, we will go in circles. We must use both to make progress! I love the quote from Stephen R. Covey when he said, “We are not human beings on a spiritual journey; we are spiritual beings on a human journey.”

All of us are undertaking that journey even now, regardless of whether or not we all understand that fact. When we discussed the concept of Creationism and the accounts from other belief systems, for me it only reinforced my belief in who I am and where I came from, as well as why I am here. Too often we tend to throw up our red flags whenever some different idea is presented to us, and that’s probably just part of our “natural man” tendencies. However, I don’t think it’s possible for us to completely understand our own beliefs without first understanding the beliefs of others. We don’t have any obligation to prove what is right and what is wrong, but as various leaders in the Church have said, “We accept truth from whatever source it may be found.” I enjoyed seeing what relations our account of the Creation had with others rather than the differences. The same could probably be said for the other things that we talked about in class.

I have always enjoyed studying about Abraham, and not just because his son Isaac shares my name. I appreciate more the fact that he was willing to do whatever it was that the Lord asked Him to, and that made his heroic journey extremely rewarding. Of course, those rewards didn’t come without a price. I can’t imagine being asked to sacrifice my own son, and I’m sure Abraham didn’t even give any thought to the idea until the Lord commanded him to do so. Whenever I think about what Abraham had to go through, I am reminded of something that Truman G. Madsen asked Pres. Hugh B. Brown and the response he was given. The essence of Bro. Madsen’s question was this: Why did the Lord require Abraham to go through such a trying and terrible ordeal? The response from Pres. Brown was a classic: “Because Abraham needed to learn something about Abraham.” The same principle holds true for all of us. The Lord does not place trials or burdens on us to make us weaker or less capable of doing things, but actually He is hoping for the opposite effect. Of course, we tend to feel that whenever we face trials that we have done something wrong or we are being picked on, but we should instead have an attitude of humility and of asking the Lord what He wants us to learn. Abraham passed his test with flying colors, and we know what the rewards were (Abraham 2:9-11). There is no sacrifice asked of us that we will be impossible, because that is not the way God works.

On now to Sacred Spaces, or Sacred Time. Other than experiences in the temple and my own baptism, I cannot think of a time in my life where I stood in more sacred spaces than when I was on a mission. Whether I was able to recognize it or not, every day provided some kind of sacred moment. I felt that any chance that I had to bear testimony or read scripture with the aid of the Spirit became a sacred space or sacred time. It didn’t matter if the person accepted what we taught; our only obligation was to tell them what was true. I’m trying not to turn this into a sermon, but it’s nearly impossible when you’re talking about sacred things….at least for me anyway. As we learned in class, there are many places in the world that are considered sacred to different religions. I think one of the best examples can be found in the city of Jerusalem, considered sacred to the world’s three most well-known religions: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. While there may be political strife there, as has been the case for practically the entire history of the Holy City, there are no arguments when it comes to the sacred spaces and sacred times which have taken place there. That is one place that I have always wanted to visit, and hopefully the future holds that reward somewhere. It’s important that we respect the sacred sites and other rituals of different religions; we ourselves ask for it, so we should be more than willing to be courteous to others’ similar requests.

Lastly is Temples, which is probably a fitting capstone in the concept of the Heroic Journey. I really enjoyed the video Between Heaven and Earth because it showed how temples are important not only to Latter-day Saints, but to other religions as well. In a gospel perspective, the Heroic Journey must pass through the temple. There is no way back to heaven that goes around it! It is the way by which we develop a more personal relationship with God, and likewise make covenants that sustain us when we are passing through the tribulations of the world. One of my favorite things about the temple is that even when you are on the grounds, all cares and worldly issues are out the window. There is no other place that I know of except probably the home where you learn more about yourself. We should be forever grateful that we have so much access to temples in this day and age, and I believe that each element of the Heroic Journey that I have talked about can be found within the confines of a temple. To conclude, a temple represents the ultimate and desirable end for our Heroic Journey: The presence of God. If you think about it, that is where the whole journey began in the first place!

I know I’ve said this before, but I think it bears repeating: Most if not all journey’s recorded in history find their end at the place where they began. We’re not expected to move through life without learning anything or without striving to find our way back to our Heavenly Father’s presence. Inside each of us is a desire to become better than we are, which is only waiting for us to recognize and then fuel it. Many among us have yet to discover it, but once we find it, then our Heroic Journey has begun!

'Tis the Season

How can it already be the Christmas season again?! Not that I'm complaining, but it just comes around the corner so fast! The big difference between this year and last year is that I'll be celebrating Christmas at home for the first time since 2007. That will be wonderful, of course, but I have to say that I very much miss the holidays that I was able to celebrate with beloved members and investigators in the mission field. A mission seems like 2  years of Christmas, in that you are striving to be filled with the Spirit of Christ and share that with those around you. With all the emphasis on getting new stuff these days, a mission was a time where I had never focused less on myself. Certainly, I plan on keeping that same mindset during this holiday season and many others, and really on any given day. Easter and Christmas should not be the only two times during the year that we turn our thoughts to the Savior. Salvation comes only through Christ, and He commands us to think of Him and be like Him every day of the year and not just when the calendar says to. Today was a great day for at least a couple of reasons: First was that today was the 1 year anniversary since I baptized Joey Couch into the Church in Hazard, KY. What a remarkable day that was for everyone that attended, and coincidentally it was the first snowfall of the winter that same day. White baptismal clothes + snow= Perfect! Secondly, the First Presidency Christmas Devotional was broadcast this evening. If there is anyone who can help us remember the true meaning for the season, it would be our beloved prophet and his two faithful counselors. It almost feels like a mini General Conference because their messages are as Christ-centered as ever! As the Christmas season presses on, let us be reminded of the need to reflect the Savior in our day to day lives. Just like the song from Michael McLean's "The Forgotten Carols" says:
 "3 kings found the Lord, and so can we." Certainly a worthy and reachable goal for all of us!

Some Food for Thought

So, I just got done eating a really good roast made by my Mom. The crazy thing is that it's not even Thanksgiving yet, but the food at home is already approaching that level. Why do I bring this up? For no other reason than to thank Mom for helping me rediscover how much better it is to eat food made by hand instead of microwaving it. Ah, but such is the norm for college students....well, at least guys anyway. It's not that I couldn't prepare food if I wanted to; however, when you've just had a long day filled with classes and homework, you're stomach starts begging for your attention, and you want something QUICK. Call it patience or desperation if you want, but I think it's more along the lines of laziness. Microwaves are not bad, of course, but I think it's just one more example of how our society today seeks to make things as quick and easy as possible. Now you're probably thinking, "OK good, I thought Ike was gonna go off ranting about microwaves, but it looks like he's about to tie it in to something meaningful and applicable. If he was only going to talk about microwaves, then I'd probably tell him that I hear enough about them on Food Network." To you readers, fear not! There won't be any microwave rants this time around. I can save that for more informal settings (i.e. not on a blog). So anyway, back to what I was attempting to get at. On my mission, I talked with plenty of people who, while professing belief in God, were looking for the easiest and most pain-free way to gain salvation. The most common method seemed to be reading a prepared text about getting "saved" and then saying a prayer....and that's it! I was given my share of these pamphlets as well, but it was more of an opportunity for us as missionaries to explain to these people what it really meant to gain salvation. There are none of us in this world who can even begin to comprehend even the smallest portion of the sacrifice that was paid for by our Savior Jesus Christ. He did something that was so hard that only He was capable of experiencing it. What does He ask that we do in return? We not only teach what He taught, but we strive to live as He lived. What is a gospel without application? Nothing more than words, either on a page or coming from our mouth. This is a perfect time for a story that illustrates this principle:

A group of theological instructors were taking some summer courses about the life of the Savior. One of these ministers focused on the parables. On the day of the final exam, the students in this class arrived to a room with no teacher, but instead found a note on the desk which stated that the exam was being offered in another room across campus and that the students had 2 hours to complete it from the time they read the note. As you can imagine, there was a rush to the door as the students hurried to take the exam. Along the way, they passed a girl who was crying over a flat tire on her bike; then, they hurried past an older man who was spilling his books along the sidewalk and having a hard time gathering them back up; lastly, they saw a shabbily dressed man outside the union building holding a sign that read, "I am hungry. Please help me." The students rushed ahead to the classroom, where they were met by their professor.....and informed that they had ALL failed the exam. Then he taught them this powerful lesson: As important as were the lessons taught by the Savior in His parables, the greatest lessons that could be gained from them would come as they LIVED them. I return to the question I asked before, only said a little differently: What good is the gospel of Jesus Christ to us if we aren't trying our hardest to live it? I will close with one last quote from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland to sum up this roast-eating/microwave/ gospel application rant:

"I am convinced that missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience. Salvation never was easy! We are The Church of Jesus Christ, this is the truth, and He is our Great Eternal Head. How could we believe it would be easy for us when it was never, ever easy for Him?"

And THAT is some food for thought..... microwave users, beware!

Props to My Sis

For those of you who visit my blog and marvel at how nice it looks, don't give credit to me. The only thing I had to do with it was the name, but the credit for the layout and design must go to Kenz and her creative skills. My only hope is that I can avoid laziness and keep it looking this good. And yes, this is my first post in 2 months....