Sat
- October 2, 2004
Conference, Priesthood session, etc.
Today is Saturday October 2nd and I've had a hard
time getting going this morning. It took taking a shower to finally wake me up
and give me the energy to start moving. Conference also began today and the
family also decided to celebrate Cassie's birthday, she turned 30. I went to a
Japanese restaurant this evening with Tim, Becky's dad, and Scott my
brother-in-law. This has become a tradition for Scott and Dad that I try to join
in on every now and then. They go out to eat before the Priesthood session of
Conference. The restaurant was very good, but I will have to admit that I don't
think I will ever become a fan of "squid salad." I did however enjoy the steak
and tempura.
When it comes to conference,
more particularly, the priesthood session. I have the hardest time staying awake
after they turn the lights off and the speakers with their soft, gentle voices
start to talk. Today I happened to have rubber-bands and I was able to fight off
sleep by practicing magic.
President Monson
gave a great talk about personal responsibility within our callings. He shared a
great story about one of his young men advisors and how he helped President
Monson to understand the importance of helping to keep people active and to
fulfill our callings.
I think the most
memorable part of his talk, the part that I would like to use to help boys to
realize their potencial, was how his leader taught him through life experiences.
He didn't just tell him to do this or do that. He taught him by incorporating
experiences that help teach through
example.
I'm starting to lose my battle
against sleep. I'll have to finish this later.
Posted at 12:02 AM
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Tue - September 28, 2004
09/28/2004 - Lunch
New Goals, etc.
Well I decided last night, early this morning, that
in order to achieve my goal of studying my scriptures more I would read at least
one chapter a day and then make comments about the chapter in my weblog. This
helps me also to keep a journal that later I can print out and keep in a
book.
Today I went out to LDS.org and
just randomly picked Heleman 14 to study. Chapter 14 deals with Samuel the
Lamanite and his prophesying and preaching to the Wicked
Nephites.
Samuel prophesies in verse 6
referring to the new star announcing Christ's birth " And behold this is not
all, there shall be many signs and wonders in heaven." I honestly had never
noticed that before. It must have been a spectacular show looking up into the
sky that night. Not having the same knowledge that we have today about space, I
can fully understand the next verse where he says "And it shall come to pass
that ye shall all be amazed, and wonder, insomuch that ye shall fall to the
earth. The ancient Nephites and Lamanites could very well have believed much
like the Little Red Hen that "The sky is
falling."
I realized in verse 12 that
Samuel also testified that Jesus Christ was the physical creator of our world,
the "Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning."
Wait a second, Samuel also said "Heaven" Not only did he organize the Earth
under the direction of our Heavenly Father, but did he also organize what we
know as our solar system? Something to think
about.
In verses 17 and 18 Samuel
reminds us that Resurrection is a gift given to all mankind, but Eternal Life or
being saved from the "second death" is conditional and is based on our own
repentance.
In verse 25 Samuel
prophesies of the First Resurrection "And many graves shall be opened, and shall
yield up many of their dead; and many saints shall appear unto many."
I think one of my favorite passages is
at the end of verse 30; "ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves;
for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free." In
that short paragraph I am reminded that I have been raised with much knowledge
and understanding as it pertains to the Gospel. I have also been given Agency
and with both knowledge and agency I have been made free.
Posted at 02:32 PM
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09/28/2004
A Pretty Good Monday
I woke up this morning actually feeling quite good.
I had a good day at work where I enjoyed editing HTML all day. I also came
across a neat tip for OSX. If you hold down Command + Shift + 4 it will allow
you to take a screen shot of a selected area, but if you press the Spacebar, it
will take a picture of a selected
window.
I've been thinking about the upcoming
elections and I find myself continually amazed that people don't see right
through John Kerry. I have my issues with President Bush, but those are minimal
compared to the fear I have for what John Kerry would do in the White
House.
We need strength to fight our enemies,
not diplomacy. The Terrorist do not care to find a peaceful resolution, they
simply want to destroy us.
I heard on the
radio today a story about a teacher who told a student that if the world didn't
have weapons, then there wouldn't be fighting and wars. Apparently this teacher
hasn't seen the abuse cases chronicled on the Evening News.
I need to remind myself to do better at
reading my Scriptures. Downloading the Scriptures to my iPod helps, but I need
to actually study them!
Today after work we
went out to eat at Fuddruckers with Grandma and Grandpa Montano and Scott and
Julie's family. We had a very enjoyable time.
Posted at 01:01 AM
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