The mind is a fascinating thing

So you hear all these stories about how powerful the mind is and I had an experience that now I am ready to do something about mind power. So in my house we recycle plastic bottles before recycling. We refill them with various liquids; milk, Kool-aid, tang, more water and they are great to take on the go. Well I reached in and grabbed what my mind registered as tang, an extremely orange flavored drink with tons of vitamin C and started drinking it. I was distracted listening to my brother and then I realized after looking at the bottle that I was indeed drinking water. My brain had actually simulated the taste and smell of tang so that I actually thought that was what I was drinking. This leads me to believe that there is more to positive thinking, and mind power than most people believe. I will keep you posted.

Breakthrough

So today made a breakthrough in my battle against pride.
Realization: If you base your self worth off of anything other than divine nature then you are prideful and limit the amount of people that you can love.
If you base your self worth off of being pretty and then someone comes along who is prettier or less pretty than you, you hate that person. If you base it off of basketball skill and someone comes along who is better or worse than you then you hate them.
The only way to eliminate pride is to see your own divine nature and then to see it in other people in everything that you do. Then being equals who both require God for everything that you are you can truly love that person as God does.
Shout out to Mac for teaching an awesome lesson by the spirit to help me put everything together.

A Mega Motion Picture Event

No I am not going to make a movie, but i saw a great one. I love how there were two movies this summer that had villains who become good guys. I liked Despicable Me, but didn't really see it as that when i was watching it. I thought the major difference was that there was no good guy in the end. It was two bad guys and it ends up being a bad guy and a bad guy that is trying to learn to be a normal guy. Megamind for me was totally different in the idea that you have the very polar difference in A good guy and a bad guy, and then a new bad guy shows up and there is no good guy, but the old bad guy now becomes the good guy. I feel that in a lot of ways that I relate really well to Megamind. For most of my life I have never really had people that understand me. I fully realize that it is largely my fault and for various reasons I find it easier in a lot of ways. I see the same thing in Megamind. That only changes when he finds that one person that he can completely trust. I believe that will be the way my story goes. I also think that we share many other similarities, I like the color blue, I believe in presentation, and I have been referred to as an evil genius more than once. Genius is simply a matter of identifying a problem, simplifying it to it's root, then eliminating the root. I love Megamind and hope that you will enjoy watching it with someone who is a hero for you. Doing the hardest thing. Putting away what comes naturally to do what it right. Gives me great hopes for my future.

Mega Weekend

So Megamind comes out on DVD tomorrow. Guess who is going to own it before the day really even starts. 
I guess I am kinda obsessed but I relate really well with Megamind. I will have a big long post about my Mega-weekend tomorrow. Count on it.

Early

So I thought that I would write early. I love institute and the insights that I get when I go. I love my Book of Mormon class. This is the fourth time I have taken it and 1.5th time from the same teacher. Why you might ask, many people do. But I find that the hardest thing to do is to learn new things from the same material. I love taking the same class over and over because I get to learn new things from the same material. It has helped my scripture study so much. I have the tendency to remember parts of the scriptures and be more or less scrupulous as I ma gong through them based on prior experience. I am training myself to always be looking for new things and for the majesty and power of the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon. So, I recommend everyone learn things over and over again, it is much better in a class than having to do it in real life and for a class that you don't have to pay for. It is the rockin'est!

So fantastic

I was evaluating my life and recently decided that it is fantastic. Are there things that may not be the absolute best, yes. But the thing about that is that I don't think that they are the best thing for me. The problem with me is that I am prone to look at other people and see what they have and decide that is what success is. The problem is that it is not what I need to succeed. God is already giving me everything that I need to succeed and that only thing I have to do is prepare myself to receive it. I am working on that.

I feel to share

I went to a fireside on Sunday and the speaker allowed himself to deviate from the topic for a bit because he said that, "I feels to share something with you."

I thought that was a particularly interesting wording. I was impressed with his application to daily life and throughout the talk how he put a large emphasis on the fact that there are two powers at play in the world, and everyone is always one hundred percent obedient. Either to one or the other or a mixture. And that we receive wages of he whom we listed to obey. Also that we see that God in his infinite mercy seeks to make us happy and will stand by us, while Satan seeks to make us miserable and will abandon us. 

I love the simplicity of the Gospel. There are only two forces at work and the simplest way to know is to test if it is of God. If it is not then you know that the driving force behind it is Satan. God will seek to make us happy, and if we align our will with His then we will be the happiest. 

God is the happiest of men, for He enjoys the fullness of all things in their glorified and perfected state. I feel to share that there is nothing sweeter than choosing to do things His way for the right reasons. C.S. Lewis said that there is the right attitude and the wrong attitude of those who follow God. The right attitude is, "thy will be done." The wrong attitude is, "Fine, have it your way." While both ways are following God only one will lead us to be like Him. Only one will help us to recognize the blessings that come from Him.

My first "Rant"

I really don't like ranting, but sitting in church and hearing false doctrine really boils my blood. We are talking about choices and agency, and then I hear this preposterous doctrine that I have still yet to find confirmed anywhere at all, "Satan wanted us to come down and he would make us do the right thing."
And I sit there and think, "Wow! Really?!? After having lived in Heaven with a perfect loving Heavenly Father, and Mother would we really believe that a third part of our brothers and sisters signed up for that plan? Blows my Mind. I never see that in anything scripturally either. The thing that I do see is that there is always this underlying theme that you can do what you want and there are no consequences."
So what is the best idea that I have heard. It is a very similar plan up to the point of accountability for sin. The "atonement" would be that Satan would suffer and grant unconditional pardon for the sins that everyone commits. This is misconstrued as "true love" for would God not want all of us back.
Then people say that he "sought to destroy the agency of man."
This is true and so turning to the scriptures we ask, "How do you destroy the agency of man if not to force him to do the right thing?
Great point aside from the fact that it is never stated. But what is not there is just as interesting as what is. For those who have already opened 2 Nephi 2 we will go there. 
I point out as a side note that agency is a Restoration term and never appears in the Bible or Book of Mormon though the doctrine and principles behind are all over the place.
Verse 13 Reads, "And if ye shall say there is no law, ye shall also say there is no sin. If ye shall say there is no sin, ye shall also say there is no righteousness. And if there be no righteousness there be no happiness. And if there be no righteousness nor happiness there be no punishment nor misery. And if these things are not there is no God. And if there is no God we are not, neither the earth; for there could have been no creation of things, neither to act nor to be acted upon; wherefore, all things must have vanished away."
I think that Satan would be pretty happy with that.
And how would you do that?
Simply remove accountability for your actions.  Hence no law, no sin, and right on down the line.
It is simple to see why his rebellion was rejected (note: Not a plan, a rebellion) really. He would never have had enough love to suffer for everyone in the garden and it defeats the purpose of the plan (also mentioned in the above scripture). If the plan was to return and live with God why leave in the first place. The idea is not to return and live with God, the idea is to return and be like God and even had Satan's plan worked to the very last detail, we would never be able to be like God, because there would be no progression. We would stagnate and decline from our mortal state, and then the "goal" will have been frustrated anyhow, because upon returning in this sick state we could still not be with God, for we would not be like Him. Cleansed from sin? Yes. Able to abide the laws of  the Celestial Kingdom? No. Hence being lost forever anyway.
This is simply a mimic of what lies he spreads to others everyday. Does he ever force them to do right? No he tries to remove accountability. "It's my parents fault I'm this way.", or "It's the way that I was raised." 
But we never hear things like that.
What do the anti-christs of the Book of Mormon teach? "Whatsoever thing a man does there is no crime..." something like that if I remember correctly.  
I will admit that I don't know if it false doctrine or not, but it requires too great a stretch of my imagination to assume that it is as simple as people often boil it down to. The thing about this that really bothers me is that it distracts us from countering Satan. The best way to win a battle is to get the opponent to attack in the wrong spot. If we ignore that one of the major things that Satan tries to push on us is to not be accountable, then we lose the focus of where to fight back.

Life as we know it.

I have been thinking a lot about life and how it is that we see our life in comparison with others. Often I see other's lives and think that  I might like some portion of their life, long ago realizing that their entire life is not even close to desirable for me, but then I also realize that with things in my life and probably things in their lives as well, if you get a part of it, you get all of it.Everything inter-relates in our lives. So getting that one thing from someone else would eventually snowball and you would end up with everything. So I think that the best option is to be extremely happy with life as we know it.

Back From the Dead

So I figured out why a high tolerance for pain can be a bad thing being that I had some compound of influenza and sinus infection and was just trying to survive. Anyway, feeling much better know and breathing again is a huge plus. 
Had lots of time to think and thought about life. There are things in life that we do that teach us profound principles.Then I realized that there are things that I cannot find any kind of profound principle that underlies it. These are things that I need to stop doing. 

What's love got to do with it.

I guess that it's acceptable to be able to write about love during February. 
I was at ward temple night tonight and sitting there I was thinking about love. Love is an interesting thing. If you've ever seen sword in the stone (and if you haven't, it's hilarious) Arthur is taking lessons with Merlin about magic, life, and the world around him. They have a run in with a couple of squirrels and they have been learning about gravity. At the end Arthur comes to realize that Love is the greatest power in the universe, even greater than gravity. 
I think that is phenomenal!
Loving the Lord.
That is a phrase that appears all over the scriptures. 
What does it mean though?
When you truly love the Lord anything that you would do would build Him up. Others would want to know Him because they know you. You serve Him, and do your very best while serving Him. Nothing is too hard, inconvenient, or impossible. We strive to be like Him in all that we do. In short true worship is emulation.
There are only two things that we are to love with all our heart might mind and strength. God, and your wife. 
That says something about the treatment of your wife. 
Love is something that we cannot possess. It is something that possesses us. It is something that overcomes us with an indescribable urge to do and be better. It is not the person that makes you want to be a better person. Being around that person makes you want to be a better person because you see a better way of living life. You see new possibilities that help you to understand your own divine nature. 
Love is the most powerful force in the universe.
Even more powerful than Gravity.

The Gospel

I love the Gospel!
I love everything about it. It just makes sense. I love debating about it in the realm of spiritual things especially. The gospel will always prevail and so the realms of secularism will never diminish it, but in the realms of spiritual precedence there is not anything in existence like it. 
Debating is an interesting art, but like most things quickly lost my interest once I learned how to cheat (bad thing about ADD). I know that if I ever get too involved with something then I just analyze the system, learn to cheat it and then I can stop obsessing over it. 
I have done this with the education system, every video game that I have ever played, books, movies, etc. Debating has the same mechanism. It has multiple but grouped together they are called fallacies. You are probably familiar at least by name with some of the more popular ones but there are many. A nice list that I found includes 42; Ad Hominem, Ad Hominem Tu Quoque, Appeal to Authority, Appeal to Belief, Appeal to Common Practice, Appeal to Consequences of a Belief, Appeal to Emotion, Appeal to Fear, Appeal to Flattery, Appeal to Novelty, Appeal to Pity, Appeal to Popularity, Appeal to Ridicule, Appeal to Spite, Appeal to Tradition, Bandwagon, Begging the Question, Biased Sample, Burden of Proof, Circumstantial Ad Hominem, Composition, Confusing Cause and Effect, Division, False Dilemma, Gambler's Fallacy, Genetic Fallacy, Guilt By Association, Hasty Generalization, Ignoring A Common Cause, Middle Ground, Misleading Vividness, Personal Attack, Poisoning the Well, Post Hoc, Questionable Cause, Red Herring, Relativist Fallacy, Slippery Slope, Special Pleading, Spotlight, Straw Man, Two Wrongs Make A Right and there are many others. 
I would usually construct these into my debates on purpose. I would construct a grand argument and augment it with a simple fallacy and then I would turn things over to the opponent who did what most anyone would do and they attack and try to break down the fallacy while ignoring the initial and most of the time invalid and terrible argument. 
We do this too often in the church. Opponents of the truth will always use fallacies to distract and dissuade, but the glorious thing of the gospel is that it is evidence in and of itself. There is no bravado, there is not show, no cover for the things that are not. It is simple and true and there are not holes to be found. It is complete and will always work. More so than gravity, and you can be assured that if it did not work then you did not try it. To read the book of Mormon and pray about it and say that you received no convincing witness is to say that you defied gravity, while holding onto the pencil and never letting it drop. You simply did not let the natural procession of consequences follow. 
Did you read with a pure heart, and real intent to know the mind and will of God? Did you read to gain a greater understanding of the eternal life changing truths contained therein? Did you ask Him with all the sincerity of your soul if the Book was true? 
The gospel needs no lawyers or artificers of speech and debate to proclaim the truthfulness of it. It will witness for itself. We have to let it. 
Have you let it grow within you?

Love

Post 90 should be special and I don't think I have talked about love on here yet and it is something that I study within the realms of both the gospel and human relations with much fascination and so I thought that I would post somewhat of my ideas/findings

Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn't it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build up all these defenses, you build up a whole suit of armor, so that nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life...You give them a piece of you. They didn't ask for it. They did something dumb one day, like kiss you or smile at you, and then your life isn't your own anymore. Love takes hostages. It gets inside you. It eats you out and leaves you crying in the darkness, so simple a phrase like 'maybe we should be just friends' turns into a glass splinter working its way into your heart. It hurts. Not just in the imagination. Not just in the mind. It's a soul-hurt, a real gets-inside-you-and-rips-you-apart pain. I hate love.
-- Neil Gaiman.

Interesting

Have you ever thought of a perfect, loving, Heavenly Father or His also perfect, loving Son Jesus Christ and thought how am I supposed to be like someone who is so different from myself?

I read this and I feel a little bit closer to Him and Them who have and continue to suffer so much for us and yet we are often the ones of extend friendship when the Savior asks for devoted love.

I know something you don't know

I kinda feel bad after reading through my blog and realizing that there are things that are posted in reference to my life that others will never know about unless you were affected by it. There is merit to that, but it does feel weird. I begin to know how Joseph felt a little bit more each day.
I wonder how God does what He does and then I realize that He has a lot of advantage over me. 
I appreciate my prayers more and more and they grow more meaningful. It makes life sweet.
My Heavenly Father loves me and I think that He is pretty amazing.

Regrets...mistakes

Do you have any regrets?
No
Then have you never made any mistakes?
No
How do these ideas correlate?
Well, there are plenty of things that I regret and and those usually involve not doing something. There are also plenty of mistakes, but those involve doing something. So the only way to live without regrets are to do what you feel is right with all the information that you have and be willing to make mistakes. 
Because, if you ask most people which is easier to live with, between mistakes or regrets. 99% would probably say mistakes, because at least you don't regret it. You can still regret dong something or not doing something and have it be a mistake.

Curve Ball

So if any of you know me you know I know nothing about baseball and the only other sport I know that has curve balls is ping pong. 
It is interesting because if you play often then you realize that trajectory and force and angle will make the ball land on a certain spot of the table. You then expect the ball to follow a regular course after that. If you spin the ball however then when it hits it doesn't follow the expected trajectory and the results can be rather entertaining. Life is like that. 
:)

Interesting

I find some of the strangest things interesting. Economy, art, literature, fire, history, computers/technology, mathematics, chemistry, physics, reading. Equally strange are the things that are closely related that I don't so much enjoy. English, biology, writing, history, literature, mathematics, art, fire, economy, physics, chemistry, reading, computers/technology, reading, reading.
You probably noticed that some of the things made both lists.
The great thing about literature, history, math, art, and other things is that you can pick and choose what interests you and leave the rest. 
The problem is that being trained to do that a lot of people try to do that with the Gospel. 
This does not work. It is an all or nothing kind of game.
Should it be for the other things in life.
I don't think so

I love to laugh

One of the best songs ever that Disney produced from their live-action era. 
I love the song, mostly because I love to laugh. I think that as long as you can focus on the good that you will always be flying high. It also teaches that there is a time and a place for everything and every emotion. Sadness is what keeps us connected with our life on earth. It reminds us of that test, or that things we've been putting off. Yet there is the middle ground. The confidence that comes from knowing that we are about the work of the Lord is something to rejoice over. 
I think that for the most part people take their jobs too seriously, especially in the church. They try to do more than their hardest. They wear themselves out, afraid that their best isn't good enough. That is because it is not.
Your best will never even be close to good enough.
That is why we have a Savior. 
He expects us to magnify our calling and to do what we can and to turn the rest over to Him in faith that He can do His own work. He loves those we serve more than we ever could. He has felt their and our pain more poignantly than we will ever comprehend and so why do we try to do more than we can?
The Jews felt this way as well and that is what caused them to look beyond the Mark. 
He is the Mark.
Our experiences are not to solely bless the lives of others and to singlehandedly do a marvelous work and a wonder. He asks us to chip in and do our part and He will magnify it beyond our wildest dreams. No one wants the church to succeed more than He does. No one knows what it means to Him more then He does. No one has invested more into it than He has. He is not going to let it fail. He will intercede and preform the miracle. 
The only question is will we be there to witness it?
We cannot yield a miracle of our own will. It must be in accordance with the will of God. If it's going to work out is there anything that we did that would not have been done otherwise? Are we really so important in our own eyes that we think that God needs us?
I know that He doesn't by a long shot, but it is my pleasure to give Him everything so that I can have the opportunity to stand and see the salvation of God and for His arm to be revealed. 
Moral of the rant on my soap box;
Learn to laugh and do everything that you can and then stand still and wait for a miracle.
It may not come in the way you expect but it will come in the way that it needs to.
Never forget that our purpose is to bring others to Christ. First and foremost. He is the one that is Mighty to save.
I hope that you take your job seriously, but also realize your place. You are not in charge. 

Fight...for peace?

Can you fight for peace? That is an interesting phrase that was brought up in a quote from one of my institute classes. I submit that you can indeed fight for peace
Not only that but you have to. 
In a world that breeds negativity and discouragement, we can and must be the ones to stand up for peace. Inner peace that brings us happiness and the peace that lets us walk away and know that we have not been passive, but have boldly declared the truth and done so in a nonviolent way. We have stood our ground and we have extended the flag of His peace to the world. 
I submit that we can and must fight for peace.

If...

If money makes the world go round then why don't you ever see grumpy, old men on carousel horses.
The truth is that money does not make the world go round. I think that there are several things that make the world go round; love, family, friends, music, and happiness.
You think about what makes the world fall down around you. Money isn't on that list. It is more of an hurdle than taking the track away. I also find that money has this funny self destruct mechanism about itself. The more you make the more you spend, the less you make the less you spend and you usually have just enough or just too little.
Yet when I am at work and enjoy what I am doing I get to be happy and spread that happiness to others. I get to make them realize that life is often much better than we anticipate and that the best is truly yet to come.
When I come home to my family or get to hang out with my friends then my world truly turns on the axis of others. they make me want to be a better person and to reach new heights. Yesterday we had a talent show and go to see some varied talents that many people in the ward did not know that others had.
Love. Yeah nuf said there
When something interrupts these things then our world stops spinning, or gets thrown outta whack. Money is not what makes the world go round, cause the only people I usually see on carousel horses are kids (even if they are 95 years old).

Simple

If you do the dame thing then you get the same result.
Simple
Changing
Not simple
Solution 
Either be happy getting the same result or change
It's simple
Okay so not so simple, but really a simple principle. I have found that I am comfortable with getting certain results in life with comments of, "That's just the way it is, " or, "Oh well, you win some you lose some."
If I would just change a few small thing then I could get different results. They are not always better, and that is the problem with me. If I am going to make changes then i want positive results. I just need to learn some by trial and error and more by faith, but the hard part is that faith requires doing and that usually requires changing, because if you keep doing the same thing then you keep getting the same result. 
I am going to have to think this over some more.

Scriptures

A simple enough subject but I can never get enough. I think a lot of times that we focus on the facts and not the feeling. Today's sacrament meeting was awesome. They talked about the scriptures and bore testimony of what the scriptures meant to them and how it plays a part in conversion. It was phenomenal!
It got me thinking though...Why am I always looking for the new and exciting? Why is the regular not enough?
I talk with lots of people that use a comprehensive software suite and they usually say something to the effect of, "I just don't feel that I am using it to it's fullest potential."
I feel that way with the scriptures. I think that there is so much more that I can be doing to get even more out of study than I already get. I think that it is much better to use what you have than to seek for something else. I am going to start revamping my scripture study and look for new ways to study and learn and understand. 

Where the Other Things Are

Why do we let our lives be ruined by outside forces?
I see lots of people unhappy because it rained, snowed, is sunny, is cloudy. They are upset unhappy if they fail a test or if they didn't do as good as they hoped. They are upset if someone lies to them or if they are cut off on the road. 
I just don't see the point.
At the point in time that you are upset, there is nothing that you can do that will prevent the thing that happened from happening in the past. There are simply too many things outside of our control. Control is an illusion. Self control is the key. If you are unhappy that someone cut you off did you do something that made the person think that you were going to let them over? Did you not study for that test that you should have done better on?
The point is that worrying about the past is counter productive. Learning from the past to make adjustments to the future and present is what successful people do.
Super successful people do that while in council with the Lord. 
You have a performance review and ask what could have gone better, what can I do in the future to prepare better, what was I supposed to learn from that? etc. This is a strategy that I have seen many successful people use in life to get the best results from crappy past/present situations. 
I just need to get better at doing it.

Why do all good things come to an end?

After listening to this song and thinking more on the subject, the only reason good things come to an end is to be replaced by better things.

I the Lord am bound when ye do what I say

Today we talked abou blessings in Institute and how they can come and come unexpectedly. We may need a blessing right now, but not get it until much later. Why?
One possible explanation is that we need a blessing before the blessing that we want in order to appreciate the blessing that we want. It may seem like God is snubbing us but in reality He is answering our prayer, by answering the prayers that we didn't have the foresight to ask for. That is pretty epic in my book.

Fun?

Now that we have number 76 posted, onto 77.

I guess that you could say that I can have a pretty morbid sense of fun. I enjoy going to a crowded busy store that is hectic and chaotic to buy a candy bar or a tin of mints, and then the cashier looks at me like you came into this mess for this? And I be extra pleasant and polite. I like to go into busy places when I have nothing to do and watch people run around being busy. It gives me lots to consider about my own life. I have normal fun too, but I like my different kind of fun just as much. It makes other people think I am leaning a tad toward lunacy which has its definite advantages and that is just gravy. 

I think that the more that I watch others the more that I come to learn about myself. There are things that I don't realize that I do until I see someone do them. I enjoy the time to ponder. 

Ping Pong

So I got on to write today and it said 76 blog posts, but the last one I posted was labeled 75. I thought and realized that my wonderful laptop did not finish posting this yesterday for some reason.


I love Ping Pong. I think that many of life's greatest lessons have their basis in Ping Pong. Dating (if you don't believe me ask Brother Hugh), the gospel, It's a wonderful game. There is so much to take into consideration. I think that if I paid more attention to life like I do ping pong I would probably become better at both. The way the ball hits the table and then spins out of control. Then moving to catch it. The problem that I face is that after a while I get lazy and I see it going and I know that I could grab it, but I just don't want to. I am going to need to fix that.

75

This has nothing to do with the number 75 other than the fact that this is my 75th post. 
Why are people always in such a confounded hurry these days? Slow down and relax and give do your heart a favor.

You Want It?

A good question, but incomplete and insubstantial. 
Most of know what we want, and have an idea of what it takes to get it, the problem arises thus;
We know that we want it, but we don't want it bad enough to do anything about it. I think that can make us unhappy. That is why people blame misery on outside sources. They say things like, "If I had or If I could just, then I'd be happy and life would be good."
The truth is that you would be miserable with _____(whatever it took to make you "happy").
Learning to be happy with what we have while staying motivated to make it count for something more. That is happiness and success. So instead of asking God for something to make me happy I am going to be asking for how to use what I already have to be happier. I think this has a higher probability of working out for me.

Gotta Love It

Is there anything better than sharing what we with with those that we love? I highly doubt it. 
Today I went to the Carl Bloch exhibit with one of my great friends. We got to just go around and see everything, but then we got to go to the American West art exhibit and there were a lot less people and it was better. Not that I don't love Carl Bloch because I do and his work is superb. It was just nice though because we could talk and laugh and do things that you couldn't have done in the Carl Bloch exhibit. It was a fantastic day!
Then we got some ice cream and talked some more. It was really simple, but I find that the most rewarding things in life are.

Me

I guess I can leak a little bit of information about me. I got to see a shadow from my past at the Institute the other day and it made me happy. We exchanged pleasantries and he asked if I was going to do EFY. I was sad to say that i actually found an actual job. He asked if I was considering Disneyland again this year. Highly. 
Oh EFC (Especially for Councilors) is when the EFY councilors get together after the last session of EFY for three days of Disneyland before school starts again. Oh EFC, how my heart yearns for thee. I got to go last minute and so I began a trip with 70-80ish EFYer's to Disneyland. I got to go because of a good friend who kept me posted and it was a great trip. I guess I kinda got appointed a kind of "leader of the band" of those that wanted to have fun! We did so much. Some of my favorite memories are Resort Hotel Rooftop fireworks. Monorailing into TLT Dance club afterwards. Going on pretty much every single ride. Being the last group in and the first person out. World of Color. Getting extra fast passes for those in our group who needed them. Aladdin broadwayish show. The whole trip was fantastic. I love Disneyland!
Some background; I love Disneyland!
I can navigate that park better than most communities in Spanish Fork after living here for 20+ years. I can walk through in my mind's eye and can see every vendor cart, what they sell, the fastest route to where you need to get, how to avoid the smoking areas, what time the shows are, and how to save your feet and save time. 
I love that the sidewalk is textured/painted and that you always have music escorting you everywhere. It rejuvenates me in so many ways. 
Am I going again this year? We will see what the year brings, but my best answer for right now is yes!

Trust

It's one of those things that we are instinctively taught to not to. If you want something done right then you need to do it yourself personality is absolutely prevalent in our society. There may be some merit to that in the general populous but not in the Church. I remember long ago an institute activity were they gathered the leaders and gave us various tasks to accomplish. The truth of the matter is that the effects of that activity are still enlisting upon my mind. There was always a very dubious task that we were to complete and there was a large in your face task. The small side task usually escaped us, while we managed to complete the other perfectly or near enough to it. 
The real task was to reach out to one person. That is the task in life. We sometimes wish that we could right every wrong, that we could dry every tear, that we could dry our own so that we could reach out, but often we are worried about the grand scheme of things. The more I think about it the more that I realize that the grand scheme of things is already taken care of. There is no test that I can fail, there is no book that I don't read, there is no degree that goes unearned that can alter the things that God has for me to do in my life. However, there is a person that I need to touch, there is a hand that hangs down, there is a brother to love and a sister in need and these are my task. 
I never realized what the Savior meant when He said, "Wist ye not that I am about my Father's business." 
He was reaching out to the one. God will take care of the little things. The thin things that we get caught in the thick of. The only thing that really matters is that we reached out and made someone happier today, that we made someone smile, that we extend, in a small way, what the Savior has already offered others. That is the greatest use of our time, talents and blessings. If we can make one person feel like they are a son/daughter of God then we have done something that matters. The difference between a bachelors and masters degree is minimal. The true question is that can we put everything into perspective and trust God to take care of us so that we can take care of His children. Oh consider the lilies of the fields, they toil not neither do they spin, but is there such an one arrayed as these even in the courts of Solomon?

Differences that don't exist

Do we see things that aren't really there? We were talking about different religions and how they take what they understand and they do such a great job at it that they are masters at it. The only bad thing is that everything falls by the wayside. 

Are we really any different though?

If we hear a new truth taught by the Apostles do we embrace it or do we shun it "until we can understand it?" The truth is that there are supposed to be things that we don't understand. If we knew everything then we would make life miserable for everyone else. But the only difference between us really is that there was a cross roads. God is in all things and through all things and of all things. 

Truth

God has a body of flesh and bone

Truth

Mind Blown

Which one is easier to see and experience?

Well since I don't know many people personally who see God on a regular basis, but I know tons of people that feel His presence and feel Him in the world around and can see His footprint in all the world around.

So which "conflicting truth" is erased?

That God has a body of flesh and bone same as man's but glorified.

You can do this with all fundamental truths that I find in every world religion. If it is true then we have the fullness. If it has truth in it then we can find it.

Chameleons of a different color

Opposed to popular belief chameleons are not evolved camouflagers. Their name doesn't even have anything to to with that, it simply means ground lion. The actual belief is that they change to colors to find mates, not unlike many humans except we usually only turn red ^^;;;. I am going somewhere with this.
Who are we?
Paul said, "For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.
And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. And this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.
Is there a double standard? 
NO
There is not a double standard. We are who we are and we have standards that are not to be discarded. Where is the context? Before it, it reads, " But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak. For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol’s temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols; And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ. Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend."


Paul is teaching true love. He is teaching that if we are with sinners we speak in the way that the sinner understands and if we are with Jews we teach in the way that the Jews understand. The problem comes when we use our knowledge and not our love. Listening and feeling are the crux of the Gospel. Do we sin against Christ because we get preachy and on our high horse and neglect the weightier matters. Or do we with love take a brother up and do the things which Christ would have us?
If we treat a person with love will we offend them? No it is impossible for as Paul later teaches us, "Charity never faileth." "The love that we as Christians," as C.S. Lewis said, " extend to one another is not charity. Charity is the pure love of Christ. It is His love that we must share, not our love if we are to reach out in Charity." We must realize that we cannot feel but what Christ feels if we want to be perceived as true disciples of Christ and not Chameleons.

Dead End, now what?

So if you haven't picked up the book or seen the movie "Life Lessons From Fathers of Faith: Inspiring True Stories About Latter-day Dads" it is fantastic. I liked one story recounted in the movie by President Matthew Holland of his father, Elder Jeffery R. Holland. 
They were going on a family trip to St. George and he and his father went to go see the Colorado River and exploring. It was getting late and they were hurrying home and Elder Holland couldn't remember the way back very well and when they came to a fork in the road they prayed. Both felt inspired to turn left. They did and ten minutes later they came to a dead end. 
I was like what a dumb story to put in with these inspirational ones.
He goes on that as he turned the truck around and went down the other fork they drove for 30 or 40 minutes before Matt asked his father why? We felt inspired and it was a dead end. Elder Holland insightfully taught both his son and I an important lesson. He said that as they have been driving it looked unfamiliar and he feels that he would have driven for maybe 20-25 minutes and would have turned around sure that they were lost only to discover that the other way was a dead end and would have wasted valuable daylight they needed to make the journey safely. He felt that they were inspired to go down the wrong road first as to affirm their knowledge that even though the second was as unfamiliar as the first that it was indeed the correct road.
All of my questions about why were answered in that brief story about how the Lord works.
How many times have I felt that a path has been right and sought the Lord's will so that I would do what He wanted and ended up at a dead end. It is nigh unto defeat of the worst kind. So why? It is to assure me that I am going to be moving in the right direction. I may need to spend time in a detour so that I can be at the right place at the right time. I may need it to know that I can now go forward with faith that I am moving in the right direction. I feel that the Lord's tender mercies do not always lead us where we think they will at first, but they will lead us where we need to be in the end. There are no dead ends as long as we would turn around and turn ourselves to Him. He will not lead us astray.