I heard a story on NPR about a Dad watching his daughter’s first ballet performance. He sat in the audience as the young ballerinas pranced on. It took only moments to realize that his daughter suffered from a lack of balance, she fumbled and bobbed all over the place while the others held their poses nicely. Immediately he began thinking of all kinds of disorders and possible syndromes that would account for her lack of balance. It wasn’t until after the performance that his wife pointed at that the blame was not his daughter’s but his own. He had helped her dress and put both her legs through one hole in the tutu’s brief.
Often we fail to see the part we play in troubles and problems around us.
December 2008
Saturday, January 2, 2010
The Shirt
The shirt. I once had a shirt I loved. It was blue and white striped (sentimental colors to a BYU grad). One day it was thrown in the wash with a bunch of dark clothing. When I pulled it out the dark colors from some item had bled onto it, staining the white stripes. I was devastating, my favorite shirt was ruined. I could no longer wear the shirt comfortably in public.
Nonetheless, because I loved the shirt, I continued to wear it at home. After several years of wear and wash the stains started to dull until, amazingly, one day I noticed the stains were completely gone, white was white and blue was blue with no trace of the dark stain. I was thrilled to have my shirt back again in it unblemished, if not slightly worn condition.
The stain of error. We are all great people, Heavenly Father really likes us all and is proud that we have made it this far in life.
May I liken you all to a shirt, not any shirt, but a favorite shirt of your Heavenly Father. You have come with particular care instructions found in the strength of youth or similar publication. You know there are certain things you must do to keep yourself clean. But unfortunately some of you may find yourself hanging out with crowds of dark characters and such association might cause you to become stained and tinged. You will feel that tinge and may want to hide under another sweater. Some things are an easy fix, a Tide stick can clean it up, but serious stains are hard to get rid of, but over time they can be washed away. However, there is that element of time. A friend was said to me that Time is your best and worst friend. With time healing but come, but it does take time and one must live with the pain, the disappointment the embarrassment that the stain causes us. But like my shirt, with time the stain can be completely washed away with the cleansing power of the Atonement. And we may all be the favorite shirt again, though slightly wiser and maybe even more beloved because of the wear.
Nonetheless, because I loved the shirt, I continued to wear it at home. After several years of wear and wash the stains started to dull until, amazingly, one day I noticed the stains were completely gone, white was white and blue was blue with no trace of the dark stain. I was thrilled to have my shirt back again in it unblemished, if not slightly worn condition.
The stain of error. We are all great people, Heavenly Father really likes us all and is proud that we have made it this far in life.
May I liken you all to a shirt, not any shirt, but a favorite shirt of your Heavenly Father. You have come with particular care instructions found in the strength of youth or similar publication. You know there are certain things you must do to keep yourself clean. But unfortunately some of you may find yourself hanging out with crowds of dark characters and such association might cause you to become stained and tinged. You will feel that tinge and may want to hide under another sweater. Some things are an easy fix, a Tide stick can clean it up, but serious stains are hard to get rid of, but over time they can be washed away. However, there is that element of time. A friend was said to me that Time is your best and worst friend. With time healing but come, but it does take time and one must live with the pain, the disappointment the embarrassment that the stain causes us. But like my shirt, with time the stain can be completely washed away with the cleansing power of the Atonement. And we may all be the favorite shirt again, though slightly wiser and maybe even more beloved because of the wear.
The Lost Car
Sister Klinger was new in our ward. She had arrived in November with the rest of the snowbirds, those senior citizens who fled their cold climes for the warmer sunny Arizona winters. I don’t know much about her story, but she had apparently never been to the temple even though she was an energetic and participatory member from the get go. She took the temple prep classes over the winter and in late March prepared to enter the temple. The entire ward rallied around her and supported her desire to attend the temple.
Then the night before she her endowment appointment at the Mesa Arizona (Snowflake) temple, she received a phone call at 2 AM in the morning from police authorities up in Washington where she lived. Her car had been stolen from out of her garage.
Sister Klinger hung up the phone. Distraught and distressed she couldn’t fall back to sleep. Since she would be living out of the state for six months she had allowed her insurance to lapse. What would she do?
When the sun came up and it was time to get ready for the temple she was already exhausted. Should she reschedule her temple date? She spoke with the RS President, Sister Stevens, who counseled with her. She mentioned that incidents like this are not entirely unusual for people taking big steps, like baptism and receiving of their endowments. They are stumbling blocks Satan apparently puts in the way to hopefully discourage people from taking steps which will bring them closer to God. Sister Klinger listened and kept her temple appointment. It was a marvelous experience for all who attended.
Later that day the phone again rang at Sister Klingler’s home. Again it was the police authorities from Washington State. They had found her car unharmed.
As told to me by Sister Stevens on Easter Sunday April 2009
Then the night before she her endowment appointment at the Mesa Arizona (Snowflake) temple, she received a phone call at 2 AM in the morning from police authorities up in Washington where she lived. Her car had been stolen from out of her garage.
Sister Klinger hung up the phone. Distraught and distressed she couldn’t fall back to sleep. Since she would be living out of the state for six months she had allowed her insurance to lapse. What would she do?
When the sun came up and it was time to get ready for the temple she was already exhausted. Should she reschedule her temple date? She spoke with the RS President, Sister Stevens, who counseled with her. She mentioned that incidents like this are not entirely unusual for people taking big steps, like baptism and receiving of their endowments. They are stumbling blocks Satan apparently puts in the way to hopefully discourage people from taking steps which will bring them closer to God. Sister Klinger listened and kept her temple appointment. It was a marvelous experience for all who attended.
Later that day the phone again rang at Sister Klingler’s home. Again it was the police authorities from Washington State. They had found her car unharmed.
As told to me by Sister Stevens on Easter Sunday April 2009
The Home Teacher
I had been assigned to home teach a family who lived outside of town a ways. It took some effort and planning to drive out there to visit him. I would make an appointment and drive out there and no one would be there. So one month I tried just showing up without an appointment. I drove out there and knocked on the door and no one answered.
That Sunday at church I noticed the man was sitting at the end my pew. So I scratched a note:
I came to home teach you this week.
Rev. 3:20-21
Then I passed the note down. He read it and laughed, then wrote a response:
Gen. 3:10
As told by Brother of the Fountain Hills Ward after recent move to area from Utah April 2009.
The Assignment
When we first moved to Fountain Hills our daughter was having a terrible time making friends. One day we received a call from the school counselor. We had never spoken to the school counselor before and were a little embarrassed that our daughter was so lonely that she had asked to see the counselor. We talked and the counselor said she was going to assign Megan a friend. I was a little doubtful about the idea, but wanted to help Megan as much as I could, so that day Erica became Megan’s friend. The two girls became insepperable and were friends throughout elementary school, middle school, high school and now, even in college they maintain her friendship. When Erica comes over I tell her the assignment is over, she no longer needs to be Megan’s friend, but for some reason she keeps on being Megan’s friend.
Megan Erklands Story told by mother
Megan Erklands Story told by mother
An Eye Single to the Glory of God
By Liz Charles September 2009
NOTE: This document is not properly edited and references are not properly identified.
Intended for personal use only.
I am a multi-tasker. I like do several things at the same time and derive certain pleasure from being able to do so. I agree completely with the Hollywood Producer, Jessica Klein, who described her strategy for dealing with daily tasks as, “never do just two things at once if you can possibly do four or five.”
Part of this comes from my profession. I was trained as a nurse and part of the job is being able to multitask. I get “patient A” a warm blanket, while getting “patient B” medication, all the while talking to lab on the cell phone. In your room, I walk you to the bathroom, assessing your skin, your gait, and your strength as we go.
I bring the same skills home with me, I think this is the key to true efficiency and improved time management. At home I talk on the phone while sweeping, I practice spelling words with my kids while eating breakfast and math facts while driving them around in the car. Splendid! Right?
So then I tried multitasking with my spiritual tasks. I tried listening to the scriptures while cleaning the house, listening to General Conference while cooking, and making to-do lists during church meetings. Splendid! Right?
Actually, I found as I tried to double up on my spiritual chores, my spiritual health declined. My spirit didn’t want to compete for attention and so it was left wanting.
Modern research backs this idea, indicating that really we can’t do two things at the same time. While we may think we are doing things simultaneously our mind is actually quickly “toggling back and forth between the two different activities.” One researcher reports (Dr. David Myer), “Done to the extreme, [multitasking] has been linked to short-term memory loss… mental burnout, anxiety and depression.”
We’ve also been learning of the fatal danger of multitasking in the arena of driving and text messaging or cell phone use.
Perhaps James in the New Testament is right when he (1:8) says, “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”
One of these scientific studies concludes that “There's no getting away from the fact that to do your best work on difficult tasks, sometimes you need to shut everything else out and focus.”
To do our best we need to focus? That’s probably not news to anyone but is harder to do in the modern world than it seems.
“O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with ALL your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day.”
The “ALL” in that scripture commands us to focus completely on God.
Orson Hyde said, “Let the mind be concentrated, and it possesses almighty power. [The mind] is the agent of the Almighty clothed with mortal tabernacles, and we must learn to discipline it, and bring it to bear on one point” (in Journal of Discourses, 7:153).
By disciplining our minds we learn to commune with the spirit, which means to be in a state of intimate, heightened sensitivity and receptivity. Today I ask you to review your habits of focusing your almighty mind and communing in three situations:
#ONE: Focus IN COMMUNION WITH OURSELVES
David O Mckay said, “Meditation is the language of the soul. It is defined as “a form of private devotion, or spiritual exercise, consisting in deep, continued reflection on some religious theme.”
I enjoy the practice of yoga. At the end of each yoga session we lay on the ground in a quiet relaxing environment and meditate, the goal is to focus and eventually quiet your mind. I love taking this time to reconnect with the essential “me” and to think about my relationship with God and my goals and hopes for the day.
If you have trouble calming your mind, consider these principles of meditation:
Make time to meditate
Find or create a quiet, relaxing environment
Breathe deeply
Relax every muscle
Focus your attention
Silence your mind
From the Ensign I read,
“Many people listen to the television while they are performing other tasks—doing housework, mending, reading the newspaper, feeding the baby, preparing a lesson. While watching or listening to television can make many mundane tasks more enjoyable, we need to be careful. It is often while we are doing tasks that do not require our full concentration that our minds can engage in creative, problem-solving activities. This is also a time when the Spirit can whisper to us. Sheryl Condie Kempton
Our high-tech world is filled with “background stimuli”, such as the television, that can distract from our focus on things of significance.
The other day I was extremely anxious, I had a lot on my mind, so I went for a run. I took my IPOD because I thought it might distract me from the fact that I can’t breathe and run at a mile high. Unfortunately, it didn’t work, and what more, the music really annoyed me as I was trying to sort through my thoughts. Eventually I took off the headphones and just ran, listening to the birds, watching the sun come up and heavily breathing the fresh air. As I did so my mind calmed and reached a level of peace and self reflection that wouldn’t have happened with music blaring in my ears. Just as a note, I am not blackening the name of IPOD because it one of my favorite multitasking tools, however, I am suggesting that sometimes our electronics can be a distraction or even a hindrance to our spiritual growth.
I have been reading the book “The Education of Little Tree. “ It is a Cherokee memoir from the 1930s. In it the grandmother teaches the boy about our two minds. The first is necessary for body living, she teaches, but the other is our spirit mind. “Grandma said that the spirit mind was like any other muscle. If you use it, it gets bigger and stronger.” Grandma also teaches Little Tree that if you ignore your spirit mind it shrinks to no bigger than a “hickory nut.” pg. 59-60
Meditation, contemplation, single pointed focus strengthens our spirit mind.
M Russell Ballard said,
“If you will pay more attention to your spiritual self, which is eternal, than to your mortal self, which is temporary, you can always resist the temptations of Satan and conquer his efforts to take you into his power.”
Just as Little Tree’s grandmother said, as we pay attention to it, our spirit mind will grow stronger and we will be following the age old Greek wisdom, “Know thyself”.
#TWO Focus IN COMMUNION WITH GOD
I will speak to three instances when we have the opportunity to commune with God, three instances when we need to resist the urge to multitask: in Prayer, during the Sacrament and in the House of the Lord.
Elder Uchtdorf said, “The tendency to focus on the insignificant at the expense of the profound happens…to everyone. We are all at risk. (However) The driver who focuses on the road has a far greater chance of arriving at his destination accident free than the driver who focuses on sending text messages on his phone.”
First commune with God in sincere prayer:
David O Mckay said, “Great events have happened in this church because of the responsiveness of the soul to the inspiration of the Almighty…You will find that when these most inspirational moments come to you that you are alone with yourself and your God…Great testimonies have come in those moments.”
We must all find our place to be alone and undistracted. Joseph found sacred space in a grove of trees, Paul in the desert, Jesus in the wilderness or mountain tops. First find physical solitude free from distraction and then work on your mental solitude.
President Spencer W Kimbal said, “After a lifetime of prayers, I know of the love and power and strength that comes from honest and sincere prayer. I know of the readiness of our Father to assist us in our mortal experience, to teach us, to lead us, to guide us.”
Second, Commune with God during the Sacrament:
David O McKay said regarding the sacrament “there is nothing during the administration of the sacrament of an extraneous nature…nothing so worthy of attention as considering the value of the promise we are making. Why should anything distract us? We are witnessing there, in the presence of one another, and before him, our Father, that we are willing to take upon ourselves the name of Christ, that we will always remember him, always, that we will keep his commandments that he has given us. If we partake of it mechanically, we are not honest, or let us say, we are permitting our thoughts to be distracted from a very sacred ordinance.”
It struck me that during the Sacrament we promise to always remember Jesus and what a gigantic and sad irony it would be if our minds cannot focus for the 10 minutes each week we have to remember and recommit to that promise.
Third, Commune with God in the Temple
The temple is an extreme trial for a multi-tasker.
President Hinckley has suggested that we not focus so much on the personal benefits of attending the temple, but rather focus on temple work as “work.” Amen! It is work to sit and concentrate for two hours.
Elder David E. Sorenson said, “Often, work is difficult, challenging, and sometimes tedious; otherwise we might think of it as play. Work requires us to be engaged in the process.”
This reminds me of a conversation I had with a woman in our last ward who was a dedicated temple worker. She mentioned how she tries to get the sisters to look her directly in the eye when she is performing the initiatory ordinances. She said when that ‘eye to eye’ contact is present the feeling changes and the presence of the Spirits from beyond can be felt. In other words, there is engagement.
As we focus on the person for whom we are doing temple work, focus on the spiritual lessons being taught and leave the distractions of the world behind, the temple can be a place where we commune with God.
Make time in your life to commune with God in prayer, during the Sacrament and at the temple.
“And verily I say unto thee that thou shalt lay aside the things of this world, and seek for the things of a better” (D&C 25:10).
Perhaps the chastening words of the Savior to David Whitmer may be appropriate: “But your mind has been on the things of the earth more than on the things of me, your Maker, … and you have not given heed unto my Spirit. … “Wherefore, you are left to inquire for yourself” (D&C 30:2–3).
Finally, we need TIME TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE PEOPLE WE LOVE
In the most recent issue of Real Simple magazine there is an article by a chronic multi-tasker. This man recently undertook a Uni-tasking challenge which he called Project Focus. For one month he tried weaning himself off multitasking so that on day thirty he would be able to spend the whole day completely focused on one task at a time – or unitasking. He had only limited success initially but on the final day, day thirty, he comes home from work and there on floor he sees his son, who’s just dumped all the money out of his piggy bank and is slowly working on putting it all back in, one coin at a time.
“Want to help me dad?” the young boys asks.
The author writes, “Just outside my brain, 3,000 things bark for my attention. But right now, I’ve put up a sound proof wall. I am going to put nickels in a piggy bank with my son. It’s the perfect, undistracted 10 minutes.” AJJacobs
We all know how annoying it is to talk with someone who’s not fully paying attention. I can’t talk to my dad while he’s watching a ball game, or to talk to my sister when she on the internet, or my husband when he’s thumbing on his I-phone.
Likewise, I can imagine how frustrating it is for those trying to get through to me while I am busy multitasking. Let us beware. As more and more “things” are created offering constant connection to the world, let us remember our primary concern is to be connected to the ones we love.
Russel M Nielson in a talk entitled Learn to Listen stated:
I learned much from Brother David M. Kennedy as we met with many dignitaries in nations abroad. When one of them spoke, Brother Kennedy not only looked eye to eye and listened with real intent, but he even removed his reading glasses, as if to show that he wanted nothing in the way of his total concentration.
I hope we all remove our reading glasses as we commune with each other.
In conclusion,
Kevin W Pearson said, “Distraction eliminates the very focus the eye of faith requires.”
I believe this, and close with these words of wisdom from the Doctrine and Covenants:
And if your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you; and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things. Therefore, sanctify yourselves that your minds become single to God, and the days will come that you shall see him; for he will unveil his face unto you.
Amen.
NOTE: This document is not properly edited and references are not properly identified.
Intended for personal use only.
I am a multi-tasker. I like do several things at the same time and derive certain pleasure from being able to do so. I agree completely with the Hollywood Producer, Jessica Klein, who described her strategy for dealing with daily tasks as, “never do just two things at once if you can possibly do four or five.”
Part of this comes from my profession. I was trained as a nurse and part of the job is being able to multitask. I get “patient A” a warm blanket, while getting “patient B” medication, all the while talking to lab on the cell phone. In your room, I walk you to the bathroom, assessing your skin, your gait, and your strength as we go.
I bring the same skills home with me, I think this is the key to true efficiency and improved time management. At home I talk on the phone while sweeping, I practice spelling words with my kids while eating breakfast and math facts while driving them around in the car. Splendid! Right?
So then I tried multitasking with my spiritual tasks. I tried listening to the scriptures while cleaning the house, listening to General Conference while cooking, and making to-do lists during church meetings. Splendid! Right?
Actually, I found as I tried to double up on my spiritual chores, my spiritual health declined. My spirit didn’t want to compete for attention and so it was left wanting.
Modern research backs this idea, indicating that really we can’t do two things at the same time. While we may think we are doing things simultaneously our mind is actually quickly “toggling back and forth between the two different activities.” One researcher reports (Dr. David Myer), “Done to the extreme, [multitasking] has been linked to short-term memory loss… mental burnout, anxiety and depression.”
We’ve also been learning of the fatal danger of multitasking in the arena of driving and text messaging or cell phone use.
Perhaps James in the New Testament is right when he (1:8) says, “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”
One of these scientific studies concludes that “There's no getting away from the fact that to do your best work on difficult tasks, sometimes you need to shut everything else out and focus.”
To do our best we need to focus? That’s probably not news to anyone but is harder to do in the modern world than it seems.
“O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with ALL your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day.”
The “ALL” in that scripture commands us to focus completely on God.
Orson Hyde said, “Let the mind be concentrated, and it possesses almighty power. [The mind] is the agent of the Almighty clothed with mortal tabernacles, and we must learn to discipline it, and bring it to bear on one point” (in Journal of Discourses, 7:153).
By disciplining our minds we learn to commune with the spirit, which means to be in a state of intimate, heightened sensitivity and receptivity. Today I ask you to review your habits of focusing your almighty mind and communing in three situations:
#ONE: Focus IN COMMUNION WITH OURSELVES
David O Mckay said, “Meditation is the language of the soul. It is defined as “a form of private devotion, or spiritual exercise, consisting in deep, continued reflection on some religious theme.”
I enjoy the practice of yoga. At the end of each yoga session we lay on the ground in a quiet relaxing environment and meditate, the goal is to focus and eventually quiet your mind. I love taking this time to reconnect with the essential “me” and to think about my relationship with God and my goals and hopes for the day.
If you have trouble calming your mind, consider these principles of meditation:
Make time to meditate
Find or create a quiet, relaxing environment
Breathe deeply
Relax every muscle
Focus your attention
Silence your mind
From the Ensign I read,
“Many people listen to the television while they are performing other tasks—doing housework, mending, reading the newspaper, feeding the baby, preparing a lesson. While watching or listening to television can make many mundane tasks more enjoyable, we need to be careful. It is often while we are doing tasks that do not require our full concentration that our minds can engage in creative, problem-solving activities. This is also a time when the Spirit can whisper to us. Sheryl Condie Kempton
Our high-tech world is filled with “background stimuli”, such as the television, that can distract from our focus on things of significance.
The other day I was extremely anxious, I had a lot on my mind, so I went for a run. I took my IPOD because I thought it might distract me from the fact that I can’t breathe and run at a mile high. Unfortunately, it didn’t work, and what more, the music really annoyed me as I was trying to sort through my thoughts. Eventually I took off the headphones and just ran, listening to the birds, watching the sun come up and heavily breathing the fresh air. As I did so my mind calmed and reached a level of peace and self reflection that wouldn’t have happened with music blaring in my ears. Just as a note, I am not blackening the name of IPOD because it one of my favorite multitasking tools, however, I am suggesting that sometimes our electronics can be a distraction or even a hindrance to our spiritual growth.
I have been reading the book “The Education of Little Tree. “ It is a Cherokee memoir from the 1930s. In it the grandmother teaches the boy about our two minds. The first is necessary for body living, she teaches, but the other is our spirit mind. “Grandma said that the spirit mind was like any other muscle. If you use it, it gets bigger and stronger.” Grandma also teaches Little Tree that if you ignore your spirit mind it shrinks to no bigger than a “hickory nut.” pg. 59-60
Meditation, contemplation, single pointed focus strengthens our spirit mind.
M Russell Ballard said,
“If you will pay more attention to your spiritual self, which is eternal, than to your mortal self, which is temporary, you can always resist the temptations of Satan and conquer his efforts to take you into his power.”
Just as Little Tree’s grandmother said, as we pay attention to it, our spirit mind will grow stronger and we will be following the age old Greek wisdom, “Know thyself”.
#TWO Focus IN COMMUNION WITH GOD
I will speak to three instances when we have the opportunity to commune with God, three instances when we need to resist the urge to multitask: in Prayer, during the Sacrament and in the House of the Lord.
Elder Uchtdorf said, “The tendency to focus on the insignificant at the expense of the profound happens…to everyone. We are all at risk. (However) The driver who focuses on the road has a far greater chance of arriving at his destination accident free than the driver who focuses on sending text messages on his phone.”
First commune with God in sincere prayer:
David O Mckay said, “Great events have happened in this church because of the responsiveness of the soul to the inspiration of the Almighty…You will find that when these most inspirational moments come to you that you are alone with yourself and your God…Great testimonies have come in those moments.”
We must all find our place to be alone and undistracted. Joseph found sacred space in a grove of trees, Paul in the desert, Jesus in the wilderness or mountain tops. First find physical solitude free from distraction and then work on your mental solitude.
President Spencer W Kimbal said, “After a lifetime of prayers, I know of the love and power and strength that comes from honest and sincere prayer. I know of the readiness of our Father to assist us in our mortal experience, to teach us, to lead us, to guide us.”
Second, Commune with God during the Sacrament:
David O McKay said regarding the sacrament “there is nothing during the administration of the sacrament of an extraneous nature…nothing so worthy of attention as considering the value of the promise we are making. Why should anything distract us? We are witnessing there, in the presence of one another, and before him, our Father, that we are willing to take upon ourselves the name of Christ, that we will always remember him, always, that we will keep his commandments that he has given us. If we partake of it mechanically, we are not honest, or let us say, we are permitting our thoughts to be distracted from a very sacred ordinance.”
It struck me that during the Sacrament we promise to always remember Jesus and what a gigantic and sad irony it would be if our minds cannot focus for the 10 minutes each week we have to remember and recommit to that promise.
Third, Commune with God in the Temple
The temple is an extreme trial for a multi-tasker.
President Hinckley has suggested that we not focus so much on the personal benefits of attending the temple, but rather focus on temple work as “work.” Amen! It is work to sit and concentrate for two hours.
Elder David E. Sorenson said, “Often, work is difficult, challenging, and sometimes tedious; otherwise we might think of it as play. Work requires us to be engaged in the process.”
This reminds me of a conversation I had with a woman in our last ward who was a dedicated temple worker. She mentioned how she tries to get the sisters to look her directly in the eye when she is performing the initiatory ordinances. She said when that ‘eye to eye’ contact is present the feeling changes and the presence of the Spirits from beyond can be felt. In other words, there is engagement.
As we focus on the person for whom we are doing temple work, focus on the spiritual lessons being taught and leave the distractions of the world behind, the temple can be a place where we commune with God.
Make time in your life to commune with God in prayer, during the Sacrament and at the temple.
“And verily I say unto thee that thou shalt lay aside the things of this world, and seek for the things of a better” (D&C 25:10).
Perhaps the chastening words of the Savior to David Whitmer may be appropriate: “But your mind has been on the things of the earth more than on the things of me, your Maker, … and you have not given heed unto my Spirit. … “Wherefore, you are left to inquire for yourself” (D&C 30:2–3).
Finally, we need TIME TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE PEOPLE WE LOVE
In the most recent issue of Real Simple magazine there is an article by a chronic multi-tasker. This man recently undertook a Uni-tasking challenge which he called Project Focus. For one month he tried weaning himself off multitasking so that on day thirty he would be able to spend the whole day completely focused on one task at a time – or unitasking. He had only limited success initially but on the final day, day thirty, he comes home from work and there on floor he sees his son, who’s just dumped all the money out of his piggy bank and is slowly working on putting it all back in, one coin at a time.
“Want to help me dad?” the young boys asks.
The author writes, “Just outside my brain, 3,000 things bark for my attention. But right now, I’ve put up a sound proof wall. I am going to put nickels in a piggy bank with my son. It’s the perfect, undistracted 10 minutes.” AJJacobs
We all know how annoying it is to talk with someone who’s not fully paying attention. I can’t talk to my dad while he’s watching a ball game, or to talk to my sister when she on the internet, or my husband when he’s thumbing on his I-phone.
Likewise, I can imagine how frustrating it is for those trying to get through to me while I am busy multitasking. Let us beware. As more and more “things” are created offering constant connection to the world, let us remember our primary concern is to be connected to the ones we love.
Russel M Nielson in a talk entitled Learn to Listen stated:
I learned much from Brother David M. Kennedy as we met with many dignitaries in nations abroad. When one of them spoke, Brother Kennedy not only looked eye to eye and listened with real intent, but he even removed his reading glasses, as if to show that he wanted nothing in the way of his total concentration.
I hope we all remove our reading glasses as we commune with each other.
In conclusion,
Kevin W Pearson said, “Distraction eliminates the very focus the eye of faith requires.”
I believe this, and close with these words of wisdom from the Doctrine and Covenants:
And if your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you; and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things. Therefore, sanctify yourselves that your minds become single to God, and the days will come that you shall see him; for he will unveil his face unto you.
Amen.
Taboo Office
At work have one office that always causes me problems. There have been several different employees to fill that office, but they always, without fail, cause me problems. So when the last man who was there left/fired? I said I don’t want anyone to go into that office. I had several different executives literally begging me for the room, but I said absolutely not, the office is cursed. If I do anything with it, I am just going to put in 20 cubicles and that’s it.
Well the owner of the company had hired a Feng Shui master to come and consult about the layout of our office. In downturned company, he want to make sure the arrangement of space would bring us the most production and harmony. So the other day this Master came. I saw him walking around the office, he briefly came into my own office and did his observation then moved on.
Later in the day I got a phone call, “You’ve done it know!” My boss said. “You need to come down to the corner office.” This was the cursed office. I went down and my boss was there. “You have to move into this office.”
“What? No, this office is cursed!”
Yes the master said that in order to restore this balance an honest and good man has to be put in here and he said that person was you.
I was amazed. After just a few minutes in my office and wandering around the office, this master had chosen the one LDS employee as the good to off balance the bad.
May 3rd 2009 Brother Despain. Executive at large company in Arizona – testimony mtg.
Well the owner of the company had hired a Feng Shui master to come and consult about the layout of our office. In downturned company, he want to make sure the arrangement of space would bring us the most production and harmony. So the other day this Master came. I saw him walking around the office, he briefly came into my own office and did his observation then moved on.
Later in the day I got a phone call, “You’ve done it know!” My boss said. “You need to come down to the corner office.” This was the cursed office. I went down and my boss was there. “You have to move into this office.”
“What? No, this office is cursed!”
Yes the master said that in order to restore this balance an honest and good man has to be put in here and he said that person was you.
I was amazed. After just a few minutes in my office and wandering around the office, this master had chosen the one LDS employee as the good to off balance the bad.
May 3rd 2009 Brother Despain. Executive at large company in Arizona – testimony mtg.
Taboo Office
At work have one office that always causes me problems. There have been several different employees to fill that office, but they always, without fail, cause me problems. So when the last man who was there left/fired? I said I don’t want anyone to go into that office. I had several different executives literally begging me for the room, but I said absolutely not, the office is cursed. If I do anything with it, I am just going to put in 20 cubicles and that’s it.
Well the owner of the company had hired a Feng Shui master to come and consult about the layout of our office. In downturned company, he want to make sure the arrangement of space would bring us the most production and harmony. So the other day this Master came. I saw him walking around the office, he briefly came into my own office and did his observation then moved on.
Later in the day I got a phone call, “You’ve done it know!” My boss said. “You need to come down to the corner office.” This was the cursed office. I went down and my boss was there. “You have to move into this office.”
“What? No, this office is cursed!”
Yes the master said that in order to restore this balance an honest and good man has to be put in here and he said that person was you.
I was amazed. After just a few minutes in my office and wandering around the office, this master had chosen the one LDS employee as the good to off balance the bad.
May 3rd 2009 Brother Despain. Executive at large company in Arizona – testimony mtg.
Well the owner of the company had hired a Feng Shui master to come and consult about the layout of our office. In downturned company, he want to make sure the arrangement of space would bring us the most production and harmony. So the other day this Master came. I saw him walking around the office, he briefly came into my own office and did his observation then moved on.
Later in the day I got a phone call, “You’ve done it know!” My boss said. “You need to come down to the corner office.” This was the cursed office. I went down and my boss was there. “You have to move into this office.”
“What? No, this office is cursed!”
Yes the master said that in order to restore this balance an honest and good man has to be put in here and he said that person was you.
I was amazed. After just a few minutes in my office and wandering around the office, this master had chosen the one LDS employee as the good to off balance the bad.
May 3rd 2009 Brother Despain. Executive at large company in Arizona – testimony mtg.
Probably No God
Atheists Send a Message, on 800 British Buses
By: Sarah Lyall
Published: January 6, 2009
LONDON — The advertisement on the bus was fairly mild, just a passage from the Bible and the address of a Christian Web site. But when Ariane Sherine, a comedy writer, looked on the Web site in June, she was startled to learn that she and her nonbelieving friends were headed straight to hell, to “spend all eternity in torment.”
Akira Suemori/Associated Press
This message — except the “probably” — has been approved by Richard Dawkins, scientist and author of “The God Delusion.”
That’s a bit extreme, she thought, as well as hard to prove. “If I wanted to run a bus ad saying ‘Beware — there is a giant lion from London Zoo on the loose!’ or ‘The “bits” in orange juice aren’t orange but plastic — don’t drink them or you’ll die!’ I think I might be asked to show my working and back up my claims,” Ms. Sherine wrote in a comentary on the Web site of The Guardian.
And then she thought, how about putting some atheist messages on the bus, as a corrective to the religious ones?
And so were planted the seeds of the Atheist Bus Campaing, an effort to disseminate a godless message to the greater public. When the organizers announced the effort in October, they said they hoped to raise a modest $8,000 or so.
But something seized people’s imagination. Supported by the scientist and author Richard Dawkins, the philosopher A. C. Grayling and the British Humanist Association, among others, the campaign raised nearly $150,000 in four days. Now it has more than $200,000, and on Tuesday it unveiled its advertisements on 800 buses across Britain.
“There’s probably no God,” the advertisements say. “Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.”
Liz Charles Commentary:
Probably no God. Probably is a large gamble to take. On the flip side I can tell you without a shadow of doubt that there is a God. Why? Because I have felt his power and light, joy and happiness. So, you can put your money in the bag that says “probably” there is no God, or place your faith with the believers who have prayed and been answered and can tell you I know there is a God. Perhaps, too, if you try the experiment, you too may learn to know instead of guess. You will still be able to enjoy your life, but may not life so selfishly and harmfully. But you will be happy, immensely happy as you go about doing good and living with a knowledge of a God who loves you, cares for you and wants the best for you and all of humanity.
By: Sarah Lyall
Published: January 6, 2009
LONDON — The advertisement on the bus was fairly mild, just a passage from the Bible and the address of a Christian Web site. But when Ariane Sherine, a comedy writer, looked on the Web site in June, she was startled to learn that she and her nonbelieving friends were headed straight to hell, to “spend all eternity in torment.”
Akira Suemori/Associated Press
This message — except the “probably” — has been approved by Richard Dawkins, scientist and author of “The God Delusion.”
That’s a bit extreme, she thought, as well as hard to prove. “If I wanted to run a bus ad saying ‘Beware — there is a giant lion from London Zoo on the loose!’ or ‘The “bits” in orange juice aren’t orange but plastic — don’t drink them or you’ll die!’ I think I might be asked to show my working and back up my claims,” Ms. Sherine wrote in a comentary on the Web site of The Guardian.
And then she thought, how about putting some atheist messages on the bus, as a corrective to the religious ones?
And so were planted the seeds of the Atheist Bus Campaing, an effort to disseminate a godless message to the greater public. When the organizers announced the effort in October, they said they hoped to raise a modest $8,000 or so.
But something seized people’s imagination. Supported by the scientist and author Richard Dawkins, the philosopher A. C. Grayling and the British Humanist Association, among others, the campaign raised nearly $150,000 in four days. Now it has more than $200,000, and on Tuesday it unveiled its advertisements on 800 buses across Britain.
“There’s probably no God,” the advertisements say. “Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.”
Liz Charles Commentary:
Probably no God. Probably is a large gamble to take. On the flip side I can tell you without a shadow of doubt that there is a God. Why? Because I have felt his power and light, joy and happiness. So, you can put your money in the bag that says “probably” there is no God, or place your faith with the believers who have prayed and been answered and can tell you I know there is a God. Perhaps, too, if you try the experiment, you too may learn to know instead of guess. You will still be able to enjoy your life, but may not life so selfishly and harmfully. But you will be happy, immensely happy as you go about doing good and living with a knowledge of a God who loves you, cares for you and wants the best for you and all of humanity.
Cookies
On the way back from a business trip a woman stopped in the airport gift shop and purchased a drink and bag of chocolate chip cookies. She then proceeded to the gate to wait for boarding. She found a seat and sat down next to an older gentleman.
After opening her drink, she took the cookie bag from the arm rest and opened it. She took out a cookie and ate it. The old man next to her reached over and took a cookie out as well. He lifted it up and smiled at her. The woman was aghast at the gall, for him to assume he could take one of her cookies, but she held her tongue. She was curious what he would do when she took another cookie. She slid her hand into the package and grabbed a cookie. The old man followed suit and also took another cookie as well. For every cookie she took the gentleman took one. And this is how it went until there was one remaining cookie. Now what would the man do? Eventually, he reached into the bag took out the last cookie broke it in half and handed half to the woman. That was the last straw. The woman grabbed the empty bag, crumpled it up and stomped off to another part of the boarding area. Once seated on the plane she opened up her purse was devastated to see her own, unopened bag of cookies inside. The bag of cookies she had been so upset about sharing wasn’t, in the end, even her own. She was ashamed. But the moment was gone, the gentleman gone she couldn’t make amends. However the experience remained as a deep impression of brotherly love.
(From a Christmas letter received by a sister in the Fountain Hills Ward)
After opening her drink, she took the cookie bag from the arm rest and opened it. She took out a cookie and ate it. The old man next to her reached over and took a cookie out as well. He lifted it up and smiled at her. The woman was aghast at the gall, for him to assume he could take one of her cookies, but she held her tongue. She was curious what he would do when she took another cookie. She slid her hand into the package and grabbed a cookie. The old man followed suit and also took another cookie as well. For every cookie she took the gentleman took one. And this is how it went until there was one remaining cookie. Now what would the man do? Eventually, he reached into the bag took out the last cookie broke it in half and handed half to the woman. That was the last straw. The woman grabbed the empty bag, crumpled it up and stomped off to another part of the boarding area. Once seated on the plane she opened up her purse was devastated to see her own, unopened bag of cookies inside. The bag of cookies she had been so upset about sharing wasn’t, in the end, even her own. She was ashamed. But the moment was gone, the gentleman gone she couldn’t make amends. However the experience remained as a deep impression of brotherly love.
(From a Christmas letter received by a sister in the Fountain Hills Ward)
Chemo's a Party! Really?
The night before I was to go in for my first chemotherapy treatment after being diagnosed with breast cancer, I was extremely anxious. I had never been in such a state and couldn’t settle down enough to sleep. I began praying and received a wonderful flood of peace. But then as I looked up the veil was withdrawn and I saw around my bed my deceased relatives. They were smiling and happy. Literally they were celebrating. They were excited that I was going to be starting this trial. “Good for her!” “This is going to be so good for her!” I was more than shocked as I sat back in the midst of this party scene. In that moment as I glimpsed into another dimension, my perspective changed. “Well, then, I thought, there’s nothing to worry about, this will be good for me.”
Following need verification:
And the words from a favorite hymn flooded into mind, “How great thou art.” How great thou art and thy will and plans so far beyond my understanding. Me a mere mortal kicking against the pricks and yet you and your angels celebrate. May I align my will more fully with thine.
Following need verification:
And the words from a favorite hymn flooded into mind, “How great thou art.” How great thou art and thy will and plans so far beyond my understanding. Me a mere mortal kicking against the pricks and yet you and your angels celebrate. May I align my will more fully with thine.
Immersion (sins and submersion)
Olive B. at her Baptism
When baptized you plug your nose and someone with the priesthood dunks you under your water and your sins go rushing away – I don’t know where. But you have to make sure that your whole body goes under water or else the sins will rush to that one part that is still above the water.
The following was told by Brother Lyons, a member of bishopric:
We must live worthy to recognize inspiration of the Holy Ghost.
One day his wife was in the kitchen cutting with a large knife- chopping- when suddenly she had the thought that their five year old son was in danger by a pool. He didn’t know how to swim, so if this was true, he would be in danger. There was only one pool in the neighborhood so Sister Lyons ran to this home and into the back yard where she saw her son submerged under water. He had one arm extended out of the waters. She bent over and grabbed hold of that hand and pulled her son out of the water before any serious drowning damage was done. She will be eternally grateful for the Holy Ghost’s warning and her receptiveness to the call.
Also from Brother Lyons.
I was watching a football game and a voice said Tommy is in trouble. I continued watching, but again the voice said, Tommy is in trouble. I went outside and found Tommy laying on the ground. He had fallen off his skateboard and was not wearing a helmet. The impact of the fall, his head hitting the ground had completing knocked him out, he lay unconscious. He rushed to the hospital where they took and xray and say bleeding in his head. We wanted to take him home and the doctor said we could only if we agreed to wake him up every hour to make sure he was alright. We agreed, but before leaving the hospital our hometeaching and I gave Tommy a blessing in which it was promised that he would be healed. We followed to doctor’s instructions overnight and returned to the hospital the next day. They took another set of xrays. And when the doctor looked at then he said, These must be the wrong xrays. They took another set and the bleed was completely gone. Tommy was healed.
Sept 2009 Olive Blair’s Baptism
When baptized you plug your nose and someone with the priesthood dunks you under your water and your sins go rushing away – I don’t know where. But you have to make sure that your whole body goes under water or else the sins will rush to that one part that is still above the water.
The following was told by Brother Lyons, a member of bishopric:
We must live worthy to recognize inspiration of the Holy Ghost.
One day his wife was in the kitchen cutting with a large knife- chopping- when suddenly she had the thought that their five year old son was in danger by a pool. He didn’t know how to swim, so if this was true, he would be in danger. There was only one pool in the neighborhood so Sister Lyons ran to this home and into the back yard where she saw her son submerged under water. He had one arm extended out of the waters. She bent over and grabbed hold of that hand and pulled her son out of the water before any serious drowning damage was done. She will be eternally grateful for the Holy Ghost’s warning and her receptiveness to the call.
Also from Brother Lyons.
I was watching a football game and a voice said Tommy is in trouble. I continued watching, but again the voice said, Tommy is in trouble. I went outside and found Tommy laying on the ground. He had fallen off his skateboard and was not wearing a helmet. The impact of the fall, his head hitting the ground had completing knocked him out, he lay unconscious. He rushed to the hospital where they took and xray and say bleeding in his head. We wanted to take him home and the doctor said we could only if we agreed to wake him up every hour to make sure he was alright. We agreed, but before leaving the hospital our hometeaching and I gave Tommy a blessing in which it was promised that he would be healed. We followed to doctor’s instructions overnight and returned to the hospital the next day. They took another set of xrays. And when the doctor looked at then he said, These must be the wrong xrays. They took another set and the bleed was completely gone. Tommy was healed.
Sept 2009 Olive Blair’s Baptism
Hit By A Tree
“I know prayers and blessing work because when I was hit by a tree in Milford a few years back and crushed on my whole left side and the doctors thought I had many broken bones, but Walter gave me a blessing just before I went in for X rays and everyone was stunned that I had no broken bones
(although I was in physical therapy for about 6 months). “
Barbara Shannon Fountain Hills Ward April 15 2009
(although I was in physical therapy for about 6 months). “
Barbara Shannon Fountain Hills Ward April 15 2009
Cell Phone Hope
While driving home to AZ from father’s funeral in Utah, this woman and her husband had pulled to the side of the road to switch drivers. During the exchange her cell phone fell out on to the ground. They did not discover this until several hours later when they stopped at Page for the night. The woman was distraught. The phone had so much information on it that it would take her weeks to reproduce it. She said to her husband, You have the priesthood, let’s say a prayer and try to find it.
The next morning they turned around and went back to the places they had stopped trying to retrace their steps. Without success they finally made their way home.
When they arrived at their AZ home there was a message on her phone machine. Her sister had called and said a man had found her phone and was putting it in the mail and sending it to her.
The man was a former mayor of the town, and LDS bishop and farmer who had been doing some leveling work on the side of the roads when he saw her phone.
Testimony – RS Fountain Hills May3 2009
The next morning they turned around and went back to the places they had stopped trying to retrace their steps. Without success they finally made their way home.
When they arrived at their AZ home there was a message on her phone machine. Her sister had called and said a man had found her phone and was putting it in the mail and sending it to her.
The man was a former mayor of the town, and LDS bishop and farmer who had been doing some leveling work on the side of the roads when he saw her phone.
Testimony – RS Fountain Hills May3 2009
Buddha's Mustard Seed
A woman had a son who was very ill and nigh unto death. She had tried everything to cure him. She visited all the doctors and tried their remedies without success. When these failed they encouraged her to seek out the Buddha as a last resort.
She followed their advice and visited Buddha. He listened to her plight then said, “Go find me some mustard seed from a household that has been untouched by death.” The woman immediately went forth house to house. Everyone wanted to help her, but none could, for they had all been touched by death. Finally the woman realized she would not find a house untouched by death and that her peace was not to come in curing her son but from the soothing and comfort she gained from the many people she had visited who had passed deaths door as well.
Story from Great Courses Lecture on Axial Age Religion
She followed their advice and visited Buddha. He listened to her plight then said, “Go find me some mustard seed from a household that has been untouched by death.” The woman immediately went forth house to house. Everyone wanted to help her, but none could, for they had all been touched by death. Finally the woman realized she would not find a house untouched by death and that her peace was not to come in curing her son but from the soothing and comfort she gained from the many people she had visited who had passed deaths door as well.
Story from Great Courses Lecture on Axial Age Religion
A New Perspective
A friend invited me to her mountain cabin. It was for a Relief Society Women’s retreat. The first day there we had dinner and then went for a walk around the neighborhood. It was beautiful. The first aspens were turning color and the pink sky cast a surreal glow on the purple mountains and dark green forest blanketing them. I had a good time walking around and just looking.
The next morning after breakfast we again went on a walk. This time I walked near the hostess and as we walked she pointed out things I had failed to see before. She added rich details and interesting stories to the places and things we saw. Suddenly I had a new, deeper appreciation for my surroundings.
A walk with an expert:
Have you ever been through a canyon with a geologist? I remember hiking Provo Canyon with one my first summer at BYU. Suddenly rocks weren’t rocks. With an expert the canyon came alive. While on study abroad in Jerusalem my New Testament teacher was a botanist, which brought new life to mustard seeds and other biblical plants. My dad is a soil expert and so I don’t ever look at dirt the same way, myriad of types all suitable for different things.
Point I am making is that experts can add detail and new perspective to our ordinary way of looking at things. I assert that as members of this church, you are an expert of the gospel. And as you walk along side others not of our faith you are given the responsibility of helping enhance their life’s experience by pointing out the gospel truths unfolding around them. By vocalizing the things we know we add understanding and new perspective to the lives of those around us.
Look for opportunities to share your expertise and enrich the journey for those you have been placed in company with.
Sept 2009
The next morning after breakfast we again went on a walk. This time I walked near the hostess and as we walked she pointed out things I had failed to see before. She added rich details and interesting stories to the places and things we saw. Suddenly I had a new, deeper appreciation for my surroundings.
A walk with an expert:
Have you ever been through a canyon with a geologist? I remember hiking Provo Canyon with one my first summer at BYU. Suddenly rocks weren’t rocks. With an expert the canyon came alive. While on study abroad in Jerusalem my New Testament teacher was a botanist, which brought new life to mustard seeds and other biblical plants. My dad is a soil expert and so I don’t ever look at dirt the same way, myriad of types all suitable for different things.
Point I am making is that experts can add detail and new perspective to our ordinary way of looking at things. I assert that as members of this church, you are an expert of the gospel. And as you walk along side others not of our faith you are given the responsibility of helping enhance their life’s experience by pointing out the gospel truths unfolding around them. By vocalizing the things we know we add understanding and new perspective to the lives of those around us.
Look for opportunities to share your expertise and enrich the journey for those you have been placed in company with.
Sept 2009
Friday, January 1, 2010
Lessons from the Wisemen
At an early age I was intrigued by the wise men who entered the nativity scene amidst exotic low tones. Who were these mysterious and majestic visitors so out of place in the humble stable setting with their splendor and rich gifts of frankincense, gold and myrhh?
As I’ve grown up, I realized the wise men brought more than gifts, they offer many spiritual insights to deepen our appreciation of the dear Savior’s birth. Let me give you three reasons why I love the wise men.
First, the arrival of the magi from the Far East, tells us that the gospel truth has been shared many times, in different places and with many different people.
Second, the little Lord Jesus asleep in a humble Judean stable was not just a local hero, a promised Messiah for the Jews. He was the Savior of ALL mankind, even the Savior of kings.
Finally, the wise men recognized the prophesied signs of Jesus birth while the Jews among whom he lived did not. Thus, the wise men also offer a warning that even those who are chosen, those who have access to all God’s teachings, those who have prophets and revelation can be blinded.
The wise men are an important part of the nativity story. Their brief appearance, though shrouded with mystery, nonetheless, teaches us to actively seek truth and knowledge by following the Guiding Star.
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