My Friends, the Scriptures

I met Elder Richard G. Scott on my mission in Brazil; he has a penetrating gaze. His General Conference talks are powerful and direct. He just says it how it is and the Spirit does the rest. Lately he has shared some really personal family experiences and feelings at conference. He is really great.

I have started to read/study the most recent conference talks and Elder Scott's talk was the first talk this time. (Now that's very weird. President Monson was the 4th speaker and he made some comment about wondering how things would go if he weren't there. I have a feeling he wasn't there when it was time to broadcast. And the meeting began without him.)

So the part of Elder Scott's talk, The Power of Scripture, that meant so much to me was how the scriptures are like packets of light (ooh, that resonated with my inner physicist) and that memorizing scriptures is like having a host of friends go with us everywhere and can be called upon at any time. What an analogy! He quoted a whole bunch of his favorite scriptures and I'd like to do the same. He quoted from Proverbs 3, which is among my favorites. And he quoted from Moroni 7, which teaches us how to acquire the love of Christ in ourselves.

These are my "go to" scriptures that I turn to when I need consolation, guidance, direction, strength to do what is right, and to be uplifted when I feel down. These are some of my best friends.

1 Ne 3:7

And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.

Psalms 3:5-6 

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Psalms 46:10, D&C 101:16 

Be still and know that I am God.

Moroni 7:45-48
And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.

D&C 121:45-46
Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven. The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever.

Alma 37:37
Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day.

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.

Moroni 10:5
And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

1 Ne 4:6-7
And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do. Nevertheless I went forth

Physical, Emotional and Spiritual Self-Reliance

Stake conference was this past weekend and there were lots of great talks on Saturday and Sunday. There were more musical numbers performed than I remember being typical. They were inspiring and beautiful.

Stake conference has been really awesome for the past few years of my life. Maybe it's because I'm older and wiser. (The "older" is not in question...I can see a growing number of gray hairs when I look in the mirror. Let's just pretend I said "wiser" and we'll go with that.) Maybe it's because I have a stronger testimony than I did in years past or that I understand gospel living better now. Maybe it's because I have to drive over an hour to get to our stake center. The physicist and mathematician in me wants to tell you that it's a linear combination of those reasons (but I don't feel like modeling it right now). I feel that driving a long distance -- or sacrificing in any other way to get there -- allows people to be more open to the promptings of the Spirit and to take away more from the experience. That sure is how I felt this weekend.

On Saturday we talked about self-reliance and how to teach others to become self-reliant. The areas that were focused on were the physical, emotional and spiritual aspects of life. We all have our unique set of strengths and weaknesses. We believe in self-improvement, self-discipline, self-mastery and in helping others do the same. The Lord taught me through the peaceful feelings of the Spirit what I need to do better in these matters. I'd like to tell you about one of them.

Out of the three areas mentioned above, my weakest is currently the emotional side. Basically, I try to do everything that I think is good...and I try to do the very best I can at each thing. All the time. When I say it like that I can already see the recipe for disaster. What I learned about being emotionally self-reliant came to me when someone in the afternoon session explained how we can be financially (physically) self-reliant. The answer is simple: to be financially self-reliant we need to live within our means, spend less than we earn, save some for a rainy day, and accrue as little debt as possible. When I heard those familiar words, I instantly felt that I could apply them to my emotional bank account.

I have a feeling that I know what people mean by having a "mid-life crisis". The stress has mounted higher and higher over the past couple years as I try to do more and more. When something else comes along I try to add it to the mix. Stress increases. Then I have to add some stress management to try to cope. The trend: keep adding stuff. The result: eventually cracking.

That's where I feel I'm heading unless I change now. If not? Some year. Some day. Boom! Mid-life crisis. Not good.

Believe me, I've been trying to change. Well, maybe I've been trying to cope without changing. That continued the mess. Now I see how to handle my time management and emotional budget in terms of finances. Financial matters are easier for me to handle so I love the comparison. I really need to spend less time than I have, save some of it to relax and wind down each day, and accrue stress in amounts that I can handle (like shorter term loans that I can pay off with a Sunday nap or an evening of vegging out).

This seems like a weird post. It's pretty personal, but I did set out to write about my journey through life with the scriptures. This is my struggle and I've been praying for help for a long time. Answers have come a little at a time. This feels like a big one and I'm grateful. Now I need to prevent myself from adding more stuff to my relaxation time.

If you care to comment or send encouragement to any other readers (or to me! :) ), please do so.

Healing the Sick

My wife is going to have a baby any minute now. She has faith in being healed and asks for priesthood blessings when she is sick or is otherwise in need of blessings or strength beyond her own. Our concern lately is about the delivery of our baby going well and that complications in past deliveries will be handled better. In particular, that her placenta will detach and deliver on its own.

She got an ultrasound at the 36-week mark a little while ago to monitor baby growth and other routine checks. Since the placenta has been a challenge to her and her health in both of her previous deliveries, the doctor ordered a special look at the placenta in the ultrasound to see if that would reveal anything that would help after she gives birth. The technician thought it looked fine and is not growing into the uterus (we were very glad about that!), but something else came up in the ultrasound that was of more immediate concern. The boy was breach.

For you guys out there that are as unlearned in these matters as I was, that means the baby is in the wrong position. "The wrong position?" you ask? Yes, the wrong position. The breach position means the feet are facing down instead of the head. Doctors don't deliver babies like this very often and they tend to perform C-sections. That's not on our "bucket list" and we tried to figure out what to do. We've been praying all along for a healthy mom and baby. Now it was time for us to take action on our own.

Thus enters the talk from apostle Elder Dallin H. Oaks (pictured here) entitled Healing the Sick. He gave such a memorable talk about priesthood blessings - both about the faith of the men giving the blessing and of those receiving it. The words that came to mind in this situation are these of the prophet Brigham Young, "Have you used any remedies?" (Discourses of Brigham Young, sel. John A. Widtsoe (1954), 163).

Very applicable. Here's how we took that lesson and added works to our faith.

We learned that babies can sometimes be coaxed into flipping into the head down position if the mom gets on her elbows and knees. Don't ask me why that works. Another thing we learned a long time ago from my wonderful father-in-law is the pressure point on each pinky toe will (sometimes dramatically) get a baby to turn. And yet another thing we learned along the lines of elbows and knees is to have the mom lay on an incline with her head down, making the baby want to turn over. So what did my wife try?

All of the above.

At the same time.

Well, not the elbows/knees and laying on an incline. That would take some talent...and reaching through another dimension of space. But she put some clothes pins on her pinky toes and got on all fours. Don't tell her, but it makes me think of a stink bug. So what happened? The baby went acrobatic. All at once. Blam! Did he flip over? We didn't think so at first because we knew from the ultrasound where his head was. It still felt like it was in the same place afterwards. The return ultrasound appointment the next week revealed that he was now head down. Awesome! Our wrong interpretation was because his bum was in about the spot where his head had been. We were elated!

We believe in the power of prayer and that our loving Heavenly Father answers them in His own way and timing. We are grateful for the knowledge we have gained in unconventional "remedies" and are so glad that we could act now and not be acted upon later. We have definitely felt and recognized the tender mercies of the Lord. Once again.

Brightly Beams Our Father's Mercy

One of my favorite hymns is Brightly Beams Our Father's Mercy. I found this video on YouTube in case you don't know what it sounds like and want to hear it. Join in the awesomeness with me.  :)

The text to this hymn really touches me and, when combined with the music, stirs me to action. I normally have an easy time putting my feelings into words, but what I feel from really touching music is beyond my ability to express. Below are the words (from the LDS hymbook). I also looked up the history because the message in the hymn feels so real that I thought it must come from someone's experience. I found these sites describing the details as well as information about the man who wrote it. It's touching...and tragic. See A Hymn and Its History and Mormon-Stories.com.

1. Brightly beams our Father’s mercy
From his lighthouse evermore,
But to us he gives the keeping
Of the lights along the shore.

[Chorus]
Let the lower lights be burning;
Send a gleam across the wave.
Some poor fainting, struggling seaman
You may rescue, you may save.

2. Dark the night of sin has settled;
Loud the angry billows roar.
Eager eyes are watching, longing,
For the lights along the shore.

3. Trim your feeble lamp, my brother;
Some poor sailor, tempest-tossed,
Trying now to make the harbor,
In the darkness may be lost.

Text and music: Philip Paul Bliss, 1838–1876

I have a feeling that I'll blog about a lot of songs. So far I've tried to post messages on other topics just so this doesn't become a musical blog. I've never really thought of myself as the musical type, but more and more I realize that I am. Music makes my soul want to dance.

Forget Me Not

My wife came home from the Relief Society session of General Conference at the end of September and told me that she heard the coolest talk from President Dieter F. Uchtdorf about the small, five-petal flower called the forget-me-not.  She said it was really awesome so I had to check it out for myself.

The petal of President Uchtdorf's talk that hit home the most for me was "Forget not to be happy now".  All too often I spend time thinking of what's coming next and preparing for something later.  Yes, preparation is important.  However, it's been on my mind lately that when I spend all my time practicing or studying for something later I miss what's going on now.  Finishing my graduate degree and preparing to get a job seems to be all I can think about...I'm talking about my spare time.  It is difficult for me to sit still and enjoy the now.  But I know that the Lord would have me enjoy things today that I have already worked on in the past to get to where I am.  I'm selling myself short if I spend all my time thinking of the future (e.g. using all my free time to finish developing a board game for future financial gain) instead of taking some time to talk to my wife just catching up on life or playing with my kids before dinner and bedtime.  Multiply this scenario by about 5-10 times and that's how much I try to cram into my schedule.

I'm trying to figure out how to put the most important things into my schedule and to not over extend myself, which is easy for me to do.  I have told myself many times that I am willing to go, go, go all the time.  King Benjamin taught me that it is not required to do more than I have the strength to do (Mos 4:27).  I really feel that I have to cut back on how much I try to do because I'm just a man.  Not Superman.  I tend toward overexertion, rather than laziness, and I see that I need to change my priorities because I just cannot do everything I want to do.  The Lord must come first and my family must come second...that much I know.  We live in a busy world and so many things seem fun or worthy of my time.  The trap I keep falling into is cramming all of it into my schedule.  I push and pull, squish and twist my schedule until it's really packed full.  I do that for as long as possible.  Then, after I stress out and crash, I realize that I have to cut back and try again.  But be smarter about it the next time.  No, not smarter.  Wiser.

The comparison of Willy Wonka's Golden Ticket was so good.  Eating chocolate used to be a reward in and of itself.  Now, the chocolate is meaningless if there's no winning ticket inside.  Sad.

What was your favorite petal of the forget-me-not? and why?

Binding the tongue of the faithful

In a recent talk in General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland (of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles) spoke of raising our voice of warning, of sharing the gospel and of serving missions by young and old alike. This gave me the courage to make the final push toward sharing my testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ in a blogging format that can spread throughout the world. I have wanted to blog about inspirational talks and scriptures a few different times, but was so moved by Elder Holland's words that I knew that I couldn't delay any longer. I can set aside a little time to accomplish this important work. Lately, I have felt that my time is not really my own, but is God's gift to me and that I need to use it in better ways.

I believe that more testimonies need to be made available online in order to bring peace to individuals that are searching for the Lord. We live in a world of turmoil where, let alone the doctrinal discord among churches that believe in Christ, the meaning of life is diluted amid a myriad of ideas, trends and appetites. I love the fact that Church leaders have encouraged members to share their testimonies and feelings about the gospel using the technology available to us. This same technology is being used to advertise every idea -- big and small, important or trivial -- to anyone that will listen. I will share my testimony so that people with righteous hearts who are seeking the truth may come to know the Master Jesus Christ.

Elder Holland also spoke of the fight between good and evil that has been raging since the dawn of time; this war is still going on. We already know that the Lord will win and that the evil one will lose. It is for us to decide whose side we are on by the actions we choose to make on a daily basis. By these choices we become like one captain or the other. We cannot pretend to fight for both sides. Either we fight for righteousness or we will find ourselves on the losing team.