My Top Ten Fears,

I have to thank Bonnie for her great lists, (inventingmatilda.com) I didn’t even think about doing it this way, but it makes sense. Here is my top ten list of my fears. Once out I guess that I can work on them and be a better person.

1. I am afraid that my job is going to kill me and my family.

2. I am afraid that my job is going to kill my family and let me live.

3. For My Eternal Soul.

4. Not doing enough when I am called upon to help someone in need.

5. Selfishness.

6. Illness.

7. Being misunderstood (I should be over this one by now, but I’m not).

8. CAROL (You know you scare the crap out of me).

9. Shooting someone innocent.

10. Clowns, all of them.

Why my wife is wrong!

So as I was sitting here deleting all of the spam links, my wife said that I should stop writing in my blog. She said that it wasn’t for me, and that because I am not consistent in writing that I should give up entirely. Now as all wives do, she has a good point, however I do disagree with her.

Here is a good example of why she is wrong.

A few weeks ago I felt inspired to ask to speak in sacrament. I went to the missionaries and asked if they are OK with giving a talk one Sunday. Of course they said that they would gladly do it, and one of the future Missionaries that was accompanying them wanted in as well.
So. . . With volunteers in hand I went to the bishopric for a good date to talk. The Lord was guiding my path. Our First counselor said that he had a great Sunday in mind and that he had a problem with getting people to talk.

The Elders and the young man set up a musical relief of “How sweet the word,” and practice for weeks. We all divided the first chapter of “Preach My Gospel,” and prepared for the inevitable day.

Last night I was finishing my talk, I had all but one scripture set up and ready to go. I called my Brother in Utah for a little ecclesiastical help, he gave it and I was finished with a great talk.

This morning I woke up and went over the talk and put a few final touches into it. I went to Ward Counsel and added a few more things to my talk, all of which is normal when I prepare my talk to a subject. It is usually a fluid article in motion. As we opened sacrament the spirit whispered to me that I would not be giving the talk that I had prepared. Sometimes that happens, I am not an easy guy to scare, so I sat and pondered the talk. The first talk finished and I felt inspired to let one of the Elders know that he had diminished time and that he would have to cut it short. So I told him.

The second talk finished and the spirit whispered to me that I would stand up and tell the ward that I knew that I was going to speak in advance but to say that I had not prepared enough and that I am sorry and then to sit back down. At first I dismissed the revelation and tried to think about what I was going to talk about. The inspiration came again, and I decided that I should follow it. From the second talk to the third I received no revelation, during the relief hymn I leaned over and told the first counselor that I was going to confess that I was not prepared to talk and that he should do nothing about it. He said “OK,” but had a very worried look on his face. I felt the exact same way, I had not received any insperation on what to talk about, I felt as if the heavens where closed. We are new to the ward and I knew that when I did this and did not give a talk it would destroy our family’s reputation for years.

I got to the pulpit and began explaining that I had known that I needed to prepare a talk on missionary work, but I had chosen not to, and now I was sorry, but I did not have anything else to say. I went and sat down. As I sat down I started to receive what I was supposed to say in my talk. The spirit the told me to wait a few seconds and stand back up and give my talk.

I stood and immediately began to tell the ward that as uncomfortable as it was for me to do that and for them to wait to see what was next, it would be much worse at the judgment seat of The Lord. When we all stood face to face with our Savior and explained that we had received the calling but we had decided to not prepare and help those who are searching for the truth. We would have to explain to Jesus Christ why some of our neighbors and friends had to wait until someone else came along and told them about the purpose of life. That awkwardness that we felt in the chapel would be nothing compared to the despair of what we would feel at the feet of The Great and Eternal Advocate.

I went on to tell the ward that they were at a crossroad. On one side was greatness, on the other was destruction and weakness. I counseled that we needed to work with the missionaries, follow the promptings of the spirit and continue in the work as we know we should. The talk took the exact amount of time as needed, the blessing and warning were given, either to the damnation or salvation of my ward.

I am thankful for this learning opportunity. I learned that to trust in The Lord and all will be as it should. The only scripture I used in my entire talk was D&C 62:3. It was about how when we bare our testimony the angels in heaven make record of it and we are forgiven of our sins. It was the scripture my brother was able to produce. What great blessings we are given, if we just do as we are asked eventually it will work out.

SO. . . That is why this blog is going to stay up, this is a place that I can go with my feelings, my emotions, and my spiritual triumphs and share them with the ether of the internet. Even if no one reads this I will know that I have been uplifted and taught, and that is what really matters.

Camping,

We went camping this last weekend with some friends from the ward. I have to say that it has been too long. We left after work on Friday, drove to Trapper Lake (a few minutes away,) camped at a beautiful spot, next to a river, with a fire pit, and good ground cover. I know my girls loved the river, my wife loved the beauty, and I loved the trees (they keep the heat off of the tent and car, as well as slow the wind down). We ate brauts and dog, then Mike, his son, and I went for a 6 mile hike looking for the lake. At dark we returned back to camp, had some smores, put the kids to bed and just chilled enjoying each others company.

Shea and I (with monkeys,) got up at 9 A.M. (I love sleeping in,) ate breakfast that the other family made and then went for a nice 4×4 drive. Around 11 A.M. we got to Trappers Lake caught a good amount of fish and then Shea and I took off so that the kiddos could get a good nap.

We had to hike 1/4 mile to get from parking to the lake. It was not on a marked trail and was some good climbing. Arias did a great job. She went down with only one minor mishap (she lost her shoe in mud,) and then on the way back up she hiked and climbed without having to be carried. Which was great, Tobi was in Shea’s arms, I was carrying 4 camping chairs, a tacklebox, fishing pole and then two bags of food. If Arias had fought to be carried we would have had a hard time getting up the hill.

We got back to camp, put the kids down and then hung out in the Rede that I got from a great friend in Brazil, (obrigado Renato!) and enjoyed just chilling. At about 4p.m. the other family came back from camping, and we began cooking the cutthroat fish that had been caught. We used lemonpepper and butter wrapped them in tinfoil, and tossed them on the coals. The fish was great!

We got home about 9:30 that night and unpacked and then prepared for the sabbath. I love camping, and I just don’t do enough of it anymore. I guess that is what happens to a person when they grow up. balls

See the pictures, they are amazing.

Memory Game

Here’s the drill (This one’s kind of interesting…)

Play along if you wish, the memory can be about Steve, Shea, our monkeys, or all of us!

Finally I have time to write. . .

We have finally made the move to South Western Montana. I am now working a desk job during the day. I like my job for the reasons that I am able to be with my family more now that I am working four days a week. We have moved into our CRAPPY apartment where it is easier to walk to the moon, then it is to get our bathroom to have cold AND hot water.
We love where we are. South West is probably the most beautiful place in the world. NO JOKE. Yesterday, we went hiking in the mountains that are just a 5 minute drive from our crappy apartment. I don’t think I have ever been to a place that had such a beautiful access to nature.
Ok enough about this place. . .
Sunday my wife decided that we needed to go for a walk to the park. Of course as anyone who has a child knows, the statement went something like this. Hey, do you want to go to the P-A-R-K? At that point I knew that I had no choice whether I wanted to go to the park or not.
I could say yes and we would take off with Skipper and Scooter nearly dragging us the whole way.
OR
I could say “No I think I would like to rest tonight, maybe tomorrow, no?” and my wife in her ever wifely ways would say, “Are you sure you don’t want to go to the PARK (not spelling it this time).”
There is something that is faster than light, it is a toddler that thinks that she is going to the park. Both of my girls would be getting on their shoes and coats and telling Daddy that he has no choice, and to make their point they would start to whimper, almost as if the word NO would kill them.
So. . . We went to the park. While there we saw a dog, local children, and lots of sand and grass. As I was sitting on a bench enjoying the spring temperatures of 59 degrees, we noticed an elderly woman with her son and grand daughter walk towards the play ground. As their four year old assualted the wooden death trap of a castle we started up a conversation with Grandma.Her name is Sharon, and she was here in Butte visiting. At first I thought she was visiting her son and grandchild, but come to find out she was here visiting the hospital. Her husband had fallen down the stairs and broke his femur at the ball joint. He had just gone through a repiaritive surgery were he received 3 screws to re-attach the bone. Sharon was just getting out and her son (who lives about 35 miles west of our town,) was in town to see how things were going. Sharon explained that she lived close to Idaho Falls, Idaho. Her husband had fallen down a set of stairs when he was bringing in their luggage while visiting their son.
I could not help but feel sorry for them. I know how it feels to be a long ways away from home and to be hurt. It amazes me how life lessons seem to pop up in the everyday places. I was thinking that the park would be a good place to relax and maybe get some sun, but instead it helped me realize how important it is to have family near by as you go through the hard parts of life. When there is no family around life gets harder. I am eternally thankful that my family and I  are able to make this job transfer together. Even though we are currently adjusting and changing to adapt to this new area, we have each other. If I have a problem I can go to my wife, or hold my girls when I seek comfort at the end of the day. What a great blessing my family is to me!