I just returned home from very uplifting meetings of church. I was uplifted and reminded of what really matters and why things are as they are. Let me explain...I met a man today named Daniel. He is from mainland China, from a town right in the very heart of the country. He has come here to work for a few months and has found the gospel in the process-which I feel that was the REAL reason he was brought here as the gospel doors have not YET opened in the more part of that country. I was just discussing with a friend last night about the state of the country there now and how glorious it will be when the doors fly open to the spreading of the gospel to those in the furthermost parts of China and other parts of Asia (also Russia). I know the Lord is preparing my brothers and sisters there now, that the work is rolling forward.

Daniel will be baptized this coming Sunday, April 6-General Conference weekend. He will only be here a short while before he heads to Israel and then back to China. He is right in the center of the country where the church is not officially established, so I worry for him and what he will encounter there so new in the gospel. I pray Heavenly Father will watch over him and help him to remain strong and true to the faith. He is so enthusiastic about the gospel and excited to learn. He was sitting in church on the edge of his seat during sacrament meeting-hanging on every word spoken. He said we speak too fast. J

How I was reminded of why things are the way they are has to do with something that a sister shared in Relief Society today. She bore her testimony and an experience she had rang true to me and shed some light as to why I had been feeling the way I had lately. I know that sounds very vague, but to keep what I hold sacred-sacred-I must be so. It had to do with life experiences and how they help to prepare you to become what you need to become-to have empathy and become more like Heavenly Father. It all helped me to realize why certain things had been happening in my life and that it IS for my good.

It has been a full day that I will write more about at a later date. I am off to bed so I can get SOME sleep before I have to start a crazy full day tomorrow.

Long time...no write

Well, I have been off visiting family for spring break and have just returned after a week of retreat. I will write a longer message soon, but just to explain where I have been. I have traveled through 4 states in a week-I am glad to be in ONE location now. I am glad NOT to be behind the wheel of a car. :)

Freedom

Today has been a busy day, the highlight being able to attend the naturalization ceremony of a friend and co-worker. I was honored to be there for my friend and to be able to witness firsthand the ceremony itself as I have never witnessed one before today. We started off in the wrong location and headed out in mad dash to the right courthouse, with my friend a nervous wreck that she would miss it. We had a half hour to get ourselves over the correct location before it started. I realized I don't think I have ever been in a courtroom while it has been in session. The court clerk presented the judge before he entered and the petition was presented to him by the homeland security/immigration division on behalf of the 14 individuals that were present. There were 8 countries represented today by the newest citizens of our country. I will never forget it as we applauded for Teresa as she received her certificate and as all stood for the pledge of allegiance. My love of country was strengthened. I know our country has it's flaws, but it is the land promised us and all the freedoms it affords us: Freedom to believe whatever we desire. Through these freedoms, we can have the fullness of the gospel restored to the earth and rejoice fully in all the blessings our Heavenly Father desires for us. And now, a few more of his children can officially and hopefully more fully partake of these blessings. I'm grateful I was able to witness that today.

Desensitized

What am I still doing up, you might ask? :) I SHOULD have been in bed hours
ago, but I am just getting to my room-let alone my bed. I wanted to write
a few thoughts I had today: I may only get to one before my eyes close on
me, so here it goes. So, I was sitting in my sociology class today and my
professor was doing his usual power point slide presentation and I was
writing down notes of things he was saying concerning the information shown.
One of these times I was writing down something, I heard my professor say
"Now, this next slide shows full frontal nudity." I continued to write as he
said that and kept my eyes focused on my notes. He said he had received
evaluations from students in the past that commented that he didn't ever
warn students when he was going to show images that were offensive. He
proceeded to say that "If you are offended by this, you need to get out
more." I thought, he just summarized a huge problem in our society today:
becoming desensitized. We are so bombarded with images and music that are
FULL of offensive information that it doesn't even effect us one bit! It
reminds me of an analogy I read again recently quoted by President Faust
shared in April General Conference of 1989:

“Thomas R. Rowan … said: ‘Author and commentator Malcolm Muggeridge once told
a story about some frogs who were killed without resistance by being boiled
alive in [a] cauldron of water. Why didn’t they resist? Because when they
were put in the cauldron, the water was tepid. Then the temperature was
raised ever so slightly, … then a bit warmer still, and on and on and on.
The change was so gradual, almost imperceptible, that the frogs accommodated
themselves to their new environment—until it was too late. The point that
Mr. Muggeridge was making was not about frogs but about us and how we tend
to accept evil as long as it is not a shock that is thrust on us abruptly.
We are inclined to accept something morally wrong if it is only a shade more
wrong than something we are already accepting’ ” (National Press Club
Forum).

The work of the world isn't done by geniuses...

I heard a very moving speech from President Hinckley today from a friend that I had never heard before. It was a speech he gave in October 2002 at the dedication of the Hinckley Building at the BYU-Idaho campus. On hearing this speech, I was reminded how much I love President Hinckley and how much I take his counsel as a grandfather giving advice, as a Prophet of God giving me direction from my Heavenly Father-and savor it. That is how I felt this evening, hearing the words President Hinckley. I will put a quote or two from this talk in here and hopefully the link to hear the audio of it as well.

"I wish for you nothing but the best. You are so choice and so wonderful
and the future is so great that you can't afford to betray yourselves in
anyway or to do anything less than that which each of you is capable of
accomplishing. You don't have to be a genius. You don't have to be a straight-A
student. You just have to do your very best with all the capability you
have. You have to do your very best. And somehow, if you do that, God will open the way before you and the sun
will shine, and your lives will be fruitful and you will accomplish great good
in the world in which you take a part. I couldn't wish for you anything
better as I look into your faces this day...There is no end in sight for the
good you can do. Do you know it? You are just simple kids. You are not geniuses.
I know that. But the work of the world isn't done by geniuses. It is done by
ordinary people who have learned to work in an extraordinary way people of your
kind who can do these things." -President Gordon B Hinckley

My how time flies

I can't believe I have not written since last thursday-time flies when you are having fun?..I've learned it flies whatever state you are in-spanning from bliss to the black abyss. :) It continues to move forward, with or without us intact and buckled in for the ride. Life has been challenging, and it has not been so easy to 'see' how the Lord has been in my life, although I KNOW He has. I don't want to sound down and cause for a flood of calls asking about my well-being, I just wanted to state why I haven't posted anything. On a positive note, I feel like the clouds are parting and the Lord continues to be ever mindful of me and has blessed me with an added measure of strength: physically, mentally, spiritually. For this I am forever indebted. How great is our Father who allows us this mortal probation to stretch and grow to our full capacity: and blesses us with all the tools we could EVER need to return back to His presence!! There is a purpose in EVERYTHING that happens IF we but look for it. Ask and ye shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you: whatever it may be. To understand the mind and will of God we must learn how He speaks and the Spirit is the ONLY way to reach that understanding. I am so grateful to have this knowledge.

appreciating the sweet

It is now 12:32 AM and I am just getting to bed. I have been hunched over this computer from 5:30 until 8:30 writing a paper, and since then I have been working on math homework. This week has been a crazy struggle that has all come to a distinct contrast today. I haven't writtne here REALLY since last week because I have really been struggling this week. (that seems to be a usual occurance in my life as of late...) This week has been exceptionally difficult as I have felt in the lowest of lows in thoughts, to come back up into the highs today. There are several factors, all of which come back to my losing focus. Losing focus on how these particular experiences could in any way be for my benefit and learning. I know this all sounds kind of vague, but I don't want to dive into deep into my personal life: just know that it all has to do with understanding the Lord's will for me and accepting that whole-heartedly. I have felt this heaviness of heart that I have not been able to shake, not even by the most powerful help of my Heavenly Father through prayer.

I have been struggling for about a month now to slowly piece together this paper, ever since I knew of the assignment and struggled to understand it. Today I experienced something miraculous to me. I better understand the statement in Moses "... they taste the bitter, that they may know to prize the good." Moses 6:55, also Alma 36:21

Opposition can help you appreciate the sweet all the more after you have partaken of the bitter. Tonight was sweet. I had already written up a draft of this paper due tomorrow that I wasn't happy with but I didn't know how to change it. So I decided today that I would sit down and start over, using my first draft to pull resources from if I needed to. I prayed before I began typing, asking the Lord for SPECIFIC assistance in knowing how to piece together the information together and that I would know in what order to put everything. As the inspiration started to flow and my fingers started to type, I offered up another prayer of gratitude and also that He would bless me to be able to type up the inspiration at the same speed it would come to me. My prayers were heard and I was able to piece everything together as it came. This paper is a miracle how it flowed from my mind and fingertips. I don't know that it will bear a high grade according to the requirements of the assignment, but I do know that I it was nothing short of a miracle to me and reminder of how the Lord is ever mindful of me down to my school assignments. One thing I love about truth: it is absolute and constant. You can always count on it: rely on it. God is mindful of me in the fine details, I know that is true for all of us. It can't be the one without the other.

Great moments

My sister sent me this story in an e-mail today and I thought I would post it here. Hope you enjoy it.

THE TAXI RIDE When I arrived at 2:30 a.m., the building was dark except for a > single light in a ground floor window. Under these circumstances, > many taxi drivers would just honk once or twice, wait a minute, and then drive away. But I had seen too many impoverished people who depended on taxis as their only means of transportation. Unless a situation smelled of danger, I always went to the door. This passenger might be someone who needs my assistance, I reasoned to myself. So I walked to the door and knocked. 'Just a minute', answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor. After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 90's stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940s movie. By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was > covered with sheets. There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware. 'Would you carry my bag out to the car?' she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman. She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb. She kept thanking me for my kindness. 'It's nothing', I told her. 'I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated'. 'Oh, you're such a good boy', she said. When we got in the cab, she gave me an address, and then asked, 'Could you drive through downtown?' 'It's not the shortest way,' I answered quickly. 'Oh, I don't mind,' she said. 'I'm in no hurry. I'm on my way to a hospice'. I looked in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening. 'I don't have any family left,' she continued. 'The doctor says I don't have very long.' I quietly reached over and shut off the meter. 'What route would you like me to take?' I asked. For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator. We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl. Sometimes she'd ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing. As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, 'I'm tired. Let's go now.' We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico. Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They must have been expecting her. I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair. 'How much do I owe you?' she asked, reaching into her purse. 'Nothing,' I said 'You have to make a living,' she answered. 'There are other passengers,' I responded. Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly. 'You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,' she > said. 'Thank you.' I squeezed her hand, and then walked into the dim morning light. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the > closing of a life. For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk. What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away? On a quick review, I don't think that I have done anything more important in my life. We're conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments. But great moments often catch us unaware-beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one. People may not remember exactly what you did, or what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel. Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here we might as well dance!