What is your daddy like?

I gave Hyrum and M the same lesson for family home evening and for home teaching. As part of that, I drew an implicit analogy between their fathers and our Heavenly Father. I first asked a series of questions about their fathers I figured they could answer, then the same questions about God.

The answers I got were not quite what I expected.

Hyrum's:
What is faith? "In the Lord!"  [We had a short discussion about faith in Jesus]

Who is your daddy? [point at me]
Where does your daddy live? "At home."
What is your daddy like? Tell me about your daddy. "Daddy's home."  --- coming home from Nigeria was clearly a highlight of his life.
Mommy tried to help me: What does Daddy look like? "Sunday." --- Yes, I was in a white shirt still.

Who is God? "Jesus!"  [We had a short discussion about the Godhead]
Where does God live? "In Heaven."
What is God like? "He likes it when we pray to Him."



M's answers:
Who is your daddy? [point at her dad]
Where does your daddy live? [points at her heart.] He lives in your heart? [Flustered, she points at the floor.] He lives on the floor? [She whispers to Mommy that he lives here.] Yes, he lives here.
What is your daddy like? "Spicy food!" [We all bust out laughing.] "Daddy likes spicy food."

Who is God? "Jesus!"  [I'm beginning to see a pattern here. We all talk about it.]
Where does God live?  [points up] The ceiling? "He lives in the sky."
Her mother asks what that place in the sky is called. [ponders] "The Kingdom of Heaven."
What is God like? [points at her daddy] "All in white." [She then confers in a whisper with her mother that God is good and that He loves her.]

A Matter of Priorities

Occasionally Hyrum does not want to follow the program. When he decides he'd rather play than pray or do something else religious, we figure it's important enough to talk to him about it. We try to help him see that "Jesus is more important than _______" Buzz, Woody, or blocks. And we'll quiz him on what is more important until he can give the right answers. By that point, he's usually willing to come around and willingly participate.

Yesterday, he was playing with his alphabet blocks, arranging them to form the alphabet like he'd seen in a book. Joy promised him that he could play with them again after quiet time. The normal schedule (an important thing for little Hy) goes: wake up, potty, snack, play. He looks forward to his snack very much because he gets chocolate cake. "And it reminds him of Backyardigans these days," Joy adds.

So yesterday Joy got him up from his nap and said it was time for snack. No no, he was quite insistent. It was time to play with alphabet blocks! "I told him, if you choose to play with the alphabet blocks, we won't be having snack because this is the time for snack. You can play with the blocks after snack if you want."

He responded, "Mommy, alphabet blocks are more important than snack!"

"What could I say?" Let the boy play with the blocks.

Family Home Evening this week

I taught Hyrum about the counsel in Heaven today. He did not have good looks for Satan. Then we had put Satan in the forest and that is where he usually likes to put his little spirit person (I have told the part of the story in flannel about us living in heaven and being children of God previously) and he didn't want to put his spirit person in the forest with Satan. Good boy! We removed Satan from Heaven and Hyrum happily went about with his pretend heaven play. He is a great kid and was very willing to say that we should follow Jesus :D

Hyrum really really sings

I know I've reported on Hyrum's progress in learning how to sing and called it Hyrum sings. Today he really did it!

He is currently enamored of the Hallelujah Chorus and Hark All Ye Nations, both with fairly recognizable rhythms. Today at church Hyrum ran up to a random member and sang, "Dun dun da-dun dun! Dun dun da-dun!" The fellow looked at Hy for a moment, and responded with the next line of the song, also in dun-duns. Hyrum looked very happy and ran off again.

In other cute news, Joy and Hyrum walked in to the chapel as the bishop was welcoming everyone. Hyrum looked up at him and said, "Hello." The bishop was surprised, but recovered quickly and welcomed Hyrum in particular, "Hello, Hyrum."

The number one part of going home or being at home is the Christmas tree lights. He just wnats to see the lights and talk about the lights and touch the lights and put toys in the lights (or talk about Mario - tonight the Angel Mario visited Mary, who then visited her cousin Peach who gave birth to baby Luigi. The Angel Gabriel visited Joseph Smith instead.)

I Thank Thee Dear Father

At some point, Hyrum transferred our requirement that he eat five different foods at a meal in order to get a cookie into praying for "five things" before he can say Amen. He starts most prayers like this, "Dear Father Heaven, thank Thee for five things" and waits for me to show him my closed fingers ready to count off whatever his precious little heart is thankful for. After five, I will prompt him "Please" and he closes, "Please bless me be good, be happy, Jesus Christ Amen" in varying degrees of understandability, speed, and volume.

What is Hyrum thankful for?
Most frequently some combination of:
MommyDaddy [we're a packaged set]
this morning with Pop and Boo
Buzz, Woody, and/or Bob the Builder [usually in a set]
Marioparty, Disney SingIt, or any other Wii or board game he played that day
Cookie or Halloween candy

And on occasion:
Steve and Emie [if we've been visiting]
bowling and strikes [last night for Joy's birthday]
various songs he loves
Buzz, Woody, Jessie, Bullseye, Ham, Rex....
pajamas
Petersons
Toby train
numbers
General Conference
church or his tie
Family fun time
Muppets
potty stickers

In one prayer he was thankful for: Toy Story, Toys, 2, 3, 4....

This morning after we read about the Sermon on the Mount and what Jesus said about prayer, I sang "I Kneel to Pray" to him. He joined me in singing the entire second verse laying out the prayer. It was most impressive.

Bednar on Balance

From a fireside in Ogden this Sunday, Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles shared:

First, Elder Bednar posed the question "How do you obtain balance?"
"Somehow, someway, we find that there is this desire for optimum equilibrium where there is this perfect harmony and balance in life," he said. "I have figured out a few things. You can really only do one thing at a time. And, if you are only doing one thing everything else is being neglected. Therefore, can you at any moment ever be in perfect harmony? The answer is no."

On the many demands on our time:

When you say no to something that is nice but not necessary, ultimately you are saying yes to something that is essential.

Unless of course you are saying yes to something completely inconsequential but entertaining. He also addressed revelation, dating (get rid of the lists of what other people should be and focus on lists of what you want to become), and his testimony of the atonement of Jesus Christ.

Nibley on Easter

Okay, he wasn't discussing Easter, but I'm going to appropriate Hugh Nibley's writings for discussing Easter. This is from "The Terrible Questions," a FARMS talk given in 1988.
--------------------
There is only one question, the sole question for religion, the only reason for religion existing at all. Religion alone is supposed to answer it, and if religion can't, then religion can't do anything - let us forget religion. ... The real question, of course, is, Is this all there is? ...

Who cares about how politics turn out? Or the economy? Or even the military threat? We're going to die anyway; what difference do any of these things make? Religion exists to answer that question, none others. ... If we exist only to drop into a sea of Nirvana, a sea of nothing - if we are to vanish entirely, we don't care whether there is one god or thousands; whether he's fierce and ferocious, or kind and loving. It makes no difference to you at all; you won't be there. You won't be anything. ...

He is Risen

Happy Easter

I believe in ...

I've been teaching Hyrum the Articles of Faith and so I was pondering today what we mean when we say "We believe in God the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost." If someone unfamiliar with the church were to ask me that, the first part of my answer would probably be "I believe that God exists."

But when I see someone struggling and say to that person, "I believe in you," their mere existence is the last thing I'm referring to. Now I can imagine a philosophy student who has been trained to doubt his own existence communicating something meaningful by saying "I believe you exist," but I think when most of us use the phrase, we mean something a lot more.

I believe you will make the right decision. I believe you will endure. I believe you will fulfill your potential. I believe you are a good person. I trust you.

Trust. "We trust God the Eternal Father. We trust His Son Jesus Christ. We trust the Holy Ghost." We trust God's plan and His timetable. We trust that, though we are weak and vastly imperfect, Jesus can still make something better, even something glorious out of us because of who He is and His Atonement. We trust the promptings that the Holy Ghost gives us and follow them. We believe that we will be happy if we follow Them. We believe what They have said in the scriptures is true. When we do not know the way, we trust and rely on Them to see us through, because They are Way, the Truth, and the Life. We believe in Them.

First Impressions of a Savior

Imagine that you were introducing Jesus as our Savior to someone for the first time. Maybe they had heard fragmented accounts of some stories in the Bible, maybe not. What is the very first thing you would want to tell them about Jesus?

I picked up my New Testament again tonight and thought about that question as I read Matthew 1:1. The first thing Matthew tells us is that Jesus is "the son of David, the son of Abraham," and then he goes through the genealogy chronologically. Jesus is the son and heir of the king of Israel and an heir of the covenant of Abraham. But he is more. He is the author of that covenant - the "author and finisher of our faith." He is the King of Israel in whose stead David stood, this being the answer to Jesus' question: If the Christ is the son of David, why does David call him Lord? (Matt 22:41-46). Jesus is our king, our lawgiver twice over, and the one to whom our fathers looked. That's a lot to pack into eight words, i'n' it?

Mark and Luke both start with John the Baptist, but in very different ways. Mark begins with John's testimony that Jesus' mission was to remit sins, to baptize with fire and the Holy Ghost, and his witness that God Himself called Jesus His Son. Luke begins yet earlier with John's father, Zacharias, entering the temple to petition God. The angel declared that his prayers had been heard. What was it the priest was to pray for when he entered the temple? For the redemption of the people, a redemption heralded by two births in the same extended family. Jesus would redeem His people.

John focuses on who Jesus was before He came to earth: the Word, of God and God in His own right, the Creator, the Light and the Life, the only way whereby we can return to God and receive of His fullness. Deep and wonderful doctrines that require more chewing than I'm planning on for a blog post.

So then I got thinking about the Book of Mormon. I realized one of the primary differences between the Gospels authors and the Book of Mormon authors is that the Gospels authors are very third-person and hidden in the background (John does his dead-level best to hide his own name and the others try to avoid mention of themselves as well) while the Book of Mormon is much more first-person: this is me and my life. The thing that I realized we don't have in the New Testament is what might be termed a personal narrative: I came to Jesus with this question and this is what He said to me; I had this weakness and this is how Jesus taught me, healed me, trained me, changed me. Rather, the authors of the Gospels tell His interactions with others and group interactions in which the author can hide. On the other hand, Nephi, at the end of the first chapter, tells us his purpose is to show rather than tell how the Lord's tender mercies have been over him and his family. It's an account of God's dealings with people in the first person.

I'm very thankful to have both: records about Jesus and His life and records about other people and their relationship with their Savior. What a beautiful complementarity!

So that was one verse of my scripture study today. On to verse 2! :)

Nibley on the Infinite Atonement, the Existence of Life, Temples, and the Second Law of Thermodynamics

Hugh Nibley, "The Meaning of the Temple," Temple and Cosmos, Ch. 1:

This post used to contain excerpts from the above article. It has been a popular one over time. However, we'd like to keep this family blog a touch more private while still providing this information to the world. So we have moved it to our public blog. You will find it here. -- DW

Come Thou Fount for Hy

This is just a sneaky way to "download" the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing so that Mama can play it for Hyrum as often as he wants.



I love you, Joy.

Three thoughts on humility from the bathtub

1. I had often heard, particularly from Pres. Boyd K. Packer, that being a father would teach me a lot about God. (e.g. "Much of what I know that really matters I have learned from being a father" and "being a father of a family gives you opportunities to learn to govern with love and patience.") I had imagined that as a father, I would feel for Hyrum what God feels for me, and so come to find Him in me more.

That was not quite right. I've found more and more that what I learn about God comes from finding Hy in myself and realizing how God sees me. In many ways, I'm still an infant and a toddler (Is that Hyrum in another 7 months on the right?). I worry what I'll find out about myself when Hy is a teenager.

2. Hyrum asks for many things. He will ask for many more as time goes on. We want him to ask us, and we have invested a lot of time in teaching him how to ask. It's only beginning. No matter how accommodating we try to be to his requests, though, we end up saying "no" or "later" or substituting something else we know he needs more and try to get him interested in it as well.

God spends a lot of time trying to teach us to come to Him for help and to ask for what we want. He really wants us to ask. What we ask for isn't always feasible, "expedient" (ie - not a good time), or good for us. So He says "no" or "later" or tries to get us interested in something else.

Hyrum tops a lot of us in how he responds to such treatment. Hyrum lets us know he is disappointed in our choices, but really doesn't throw fits very often. He doesn't try to get even with us; he doesn't try to make us miserable. He submits (to me anyway) tolerably well most of the time.

So many of us respond by getting angry at God. 'This was really, really important to me and God didn't do what I wanted, so I'm going to stop going to church or stop saying my prayers or do something else to get back at Him."

So many of us respond by what would be delusionary if Hyrum did it: Hy has never said, "Mom and Dad didn't give me my truck when I asked for it, so they don't exist."

It takes humility to see somthing in the world that we think isn't right - that our definition of a just, merciful God wouldn't allow - and to respond, "I guess I don't understand God as well as I thought. Lord, help my unbelief." They are opportunities to know Him better.

3. That in turn got me thinking about Mosiah 3:19, which says that we, as fallen or "natural" men and women, are enemies to God unless we become as a child. The first, dare I say natural, reaction is to say "say, what?" Then we draw an invisible semantic point that being childlike is not the same thing as being childish, the one being equated with everything good about children and the other all the negatives.

Hyrum doesn't know the difference, though. He's just a child: both childlike and childish. ... and so am I. And with that thought, I saw two new possibilities:

3.1. God looks at the good and the bad and chooses to mention and bring to our notice the good. My confidence increased that He sees us the same and tries to bring out that good in us. That was how Pres. Hinckley spoke about the youth all the time and is how Pres. Monson speaks of them now. Emphasizing the good brings it out and overpowers the bad.

3.2. The good that God mentions being in children is that they are humble. Specifically, the natural man must yield, and become as a child: "submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father." Maybe that's the most important good. If you've got that - if you're willing to submit to anything God does with/to/for/at you - He can take care of the rest. And if I can't learn to submit the way Hyrum does to me, there's precious little that can be done with me, no matter what other skills I have.

The Amazing Spiderman Should be Mormon

I mentioned in my last post that I was watching Spiderman 2 for the first time. I finished it last night and really liked it. The first movie did a fine job introducing Spidey, okay. This one touched me deeply and talked about a number of issues that I've been struggling with too.

But I'm not here to talk about them. I'm here to talk about Peter Parker's issues. His main internal conflict deals with finding balance: how can he be a college student, a part-time photographer, hold down a second job, keep up with a social life (maybe even date), and, oh yes, be a hero? The stress of it all is just too much to that point that he really can't do any of it effectively. Not for the first 15 minutes of the movie anyway.

After watching the first part, I was convinced that Peter Parker needs a couple LDS missionaries to knock on his door, convert him to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, and get this boy a calling in the church. Y'see, from the LDS/Mormon point of view, all of us are called to be "saviors on mount Zion" (Obadiah 1:21) - to assist the Savior in His work. (It's ... kind of like being expected to be a superhero without tights or powers - unless you're the guy on the left - just a faith that somehow God will magnify our feeble efforts to reach out, that the Holy Ghost will touch people's hearts, and the Atonement change us all.)

And there are a lot of things that assisting in God's work calls on a member of the Church to do. This goes way beyond 10% tithing and not smoking or drinking. One of our speakers in stake conference, a state trooper, referred to this as the "Marine Corps of churches."

• Visiting several families monthly and looking after their spiritual and temporal needs;
  
• serving in any capacity where asked - in my case an extra 10ish hours on top of the 3 hour Sunday meetings every week, plus priesthood meetings, and that's all just so that the branch president doesn't have to spend that time too on top of the who-knows-how-much extra he voluntarily does; [don't get me wrong: I love my calling and have loved all my other ones]
  
• driving up to the temple 1:45 away as often as you can to do vicarious work for the dead [picture right is of the angel Moroni statue on the Hill Cumorah near our local temple, who, incidentally, was modeled by two of Joy's ancestors];
  
• taking opportunities to talk to people about the gospel;
• dropping most anything most anytime when someone calls and needs help;
• moving 10 families out or around every May and another 10 in or around every September;
• feeding the missionaries a couple times a month;
• reserving every Monday night for family time;
• teach your kids the gospel;
• make home a temple;
• daily personal scripture study, prayer, journal writing;
• search out information about your ancestors so you can do their work in the temple too;
• filling random service projects and assignments as they come up, usually with little warning;
  
• keep up and rotate food storage;
• get out of debt and make sure you have several months' worth of money for emergencies [which they said long before the current recession]...
  

And even that doesn't cover all of repenting, "putting off the natural man," and striving to become more like Jesus. At various points, church leaders have reminded us to be politely politically engaged, to plant vegetable gardens, you name it. It is, quite literally, more than any one person can do at one time, particularly when you add family, work, social life, and maybe some me time into the equation, and all of which are assigned important roles this grand, eternal plan we get to participate in.

I think Peter Parker would relate. I think he would gain a lot by associating with a bunch of mere mortals trying to be superheroes. I think that in the process of talking - as our branch does a couple times every semester - about how to balance it all without being overloaded, he would learn to find more of a center in his life.

At a church meeting I was at tonight, one of the speakers mentioned that when Jesus was on the earth, He didn't go around to heal every person around the globe. He didn't even heal everyone in all Israel. He healed those around Him who had faith. I gather there were a lot of sick people at the pool of Bethesda, but only one person healed. As He said to the Pharasees, there were many widows in Israel, but Elijah was sent to just one.

Yes, Pete, you are a superhero. You have a responsibility. "Where much is given, much is required" is how your LDS Uncle Ben would've said it. But you aren't required to give more than you have. None of us has enough to give and do all of it. None. That's one of the reasons we need the Atonement. We do all we can, and we leave the residual in God's hands. With great power comes great responsibility, but not all responsibility. You don't have all power. Don't take on all responsibility.

Prof. Stephen E. Robinson likened it to weight-lifting: you keep adding weights until you can't do anymore, and you lift that weight until it becomes easier and then you can add some more. Your schooling, Peter, your jobs, and even some down time, are essential parts to making you a more effective Spiderman later. [My parents are probably reading this and thinking, "Oh good, the boy was paying attention to something we said."]

I know [oh yeah, from your vast experience playing City of Heroes, I suppose? Pfft.]... Okay, I imagine it's hard to justify seeing Mary Jane's play when there's someone out there who needs you. People need Peter too, not just Spiderman. Sometimes you can delegate the crime fighting to the boys in blue, who really do a good job in the real world. It takes faith and prayer and serious thought to know when to do what - that I do know from experience. I also know from experience something I learned by applying what Brigham Young taught: if you give God the time He needs, He will give you the time you need. I've found that to be true again and again.

Do all you can. Do the best you can. Leave the rest in the Lord's hands "and [He] will give you rest."

Our Perfect Example

Two weeks ago, my brother and his wife joined us for General Conference. It's a time when members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (and anyone else who cares to) join together to listen to our prophet, the apostles, and other church leaders give advice and counsel inspired by the Lord.

One of the main messages this time around that was most important to me was the testimony that each of us can receive revelation. That is, God will speak to us individually for our individual problems. This revelation comes most often as feelings of comfort or peace that help confirm a course of action, or things will stand out during my scripture reading I hadn't noticed before that seem to have a bearing on what I'm praying about. They particularly emphasized that parents have a right to receive revelation to help their children - that God wants to give us direction and help. It was a beautifully comforting message, and one that Joy and I have witnessed on a number of occasions in the last month.

Another of the main themes was that we should do anything we do out of love. President Henry B. Eyring, one of our prophet's two counselors, stood out to me particularly on that topic. You can find his talk "Our Perfect Example" in print, or as a video if you scroll down a bit.

As we strive to be like Jesus, he said, we need to "pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love" (Moroni 7:48). "Love is the motivating principle by which the Lord leads us along the way towards becoming like Him. ... The greatest joys and the greatest sorrows we experience are in family relationships. The joys come from putting the welfare of others above our own. That is what love is. And the sorrow comes primarily from selfishness, which is the absence of love. The ideal God holds for us is to form families in the way most likely to lead to happiness and away from sorrow."

He gave these words of counsel to couples: "Pray for the love which allows you to see the good in your companion. Pray for the love that makes weaknesses and mistakes seem small. Pray for the love to make your companion’s joy your own. Pray for the love to want to lessen the load and soften the sorrows of your companion." He also counseled about reaching out to wayward children, about how children can show love for parents, and about showing love for people not in our families.

He promised that as we would strive to be filled with love and give that love to others, we will feel the approval of Jesus and our Father more in our lives. We will have more peace and contentment in our lives.

Hy pays attention

Hyrum missed his second nap today. That means the evening was proceeding ... less than optimally and Mama was at the end of her rope. We were talking about getting Hy ready for bed about an hour early when I remembered we hadn't read scriptures with him yet. There was no way he was going to sit quietly through them tonight, though.

Then I got a wonderful idea. I sat Hy in my lap and turned on the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing "We Are Sowing" on the laptop with some pretty fountains playing during the music.

Hyrum was enthralled.

He sat, staring intently, mesmerized by the music. Mama and Dada sang along with them. When it was done, he continued to sit quietly for a second, then took in a deep breath and let it out with satisfaction.

We bore testimony to him about the important lessons in that song, and how they tied in with our scripture reading. I read him the page out of the Book of Mormon. Then we spent another half hour listening to "We are Sowing," "This is the Christ," and "I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus." Hyrum just sat in my lap, occasionally leaning in to me comfortably. SUCH a Spirit of peace and love and transquility had come to our home, "Mommy and Daddy cried," adds Joy.

How thankful we are for sacred music and for a son who loves it.




(Mind, he also was also excited today by the Beach Boys singing "California Girls" while he ignored Bach, Beethoven, and Bizet playing from Dad's office over the baby monitor.)

Easter 09

Last year in the run up to Easter, Joy and I spent a little time each day reading through portions of the New Testament dealing what Jesus did on that day. It was deeply spiritual and very fulfilling. We planned this year to try to work this up into an official tradition and introduce Hyrum to some of the highlights.

Well, 2/8 isn't bad, right?

On Palm Sunday, I told Hyrum the story about the triumphal entry (Matthew 21) and then we did a reenactment. I got down on all fours and Hyrum, who has just discovered he can grip Dad's neck with his legs, rode on me as the donkey into the living room. Joy tossed some blankets and sheets out in our path and cried out with a loud voice, saying: "Hosanna! Blessed be the name of the most high God!" (which on checking after the fact are neither the words given in Matthew, nor in Luke, but it's the right sentiment).

Hyrum smiled big and really got a kick out of it. Sorry, no videos - whose hands were available?

Then ... something kept happening this week. I'm not sure how. There was the seminar given by Nobel prize winner Amartya Sen, there was home teaching, there was ... SOMETHING every evening so I was only home long enough to eat dinner and/or help put Hyrum to bed, but not enough to really talk with him about the temple or the parables or the Passover or Gethsemane or the Crucifixion. Actually, no, we did cover the temple - I was home one more night when we colored Easter eggs and told him about the temple. Anyway, it wasn't as full as we had hoped.

Sunday we did some things right, though. Following the women, we arose early in the morning so we could be out of the house by 7. I practiced a musical number for the Easter Program with two YSA friends who asked to do my arrangement of "I Know That My Redeemer Lives." Despite one of the girls being sick, they did a really good job turning my choir arrangement into a talented duet. Then there was choir rehearsal and then we performed for the Sacrament meeting Easter program.

Joy, in her Easter hat, was in charge of the Church program and she did a very successful job delegating large portions of it to other people. With a lot of people putting their best efforts into their parts of the program, the Spirit testified of Jesus and His Atonement. I got to spend some time in the afternoon telling Hyrum more of the story that had been missed over the week and took a much needed 3 hour nap.

Joy was also in charge of Easter baskets. She put Hyrum's out for him after his nap and he took some time exploring all the different things in his basket. Now for THAT we have video! Joy filmed the whole thing for me in short clips. Her commentary is almost better than watching the baby at some points. "And there's that yellow jelly bean again.... and the frog."



Hy really got a kick out of that frog. Almost none of the toys were new - Joy was reintroducing some old friends and added some large plastic jelly beans and a penguin in a ball. Our son is rather ambidextrous, and it was interesting to me to note that he explored the basket with his right hand while his left hand held on to the frog or the penguin depending on which had his interest. He'd explore a bit, shake the frog, pull out that yellow jelly bean again, shake the frog, put the jelly bean back, shake the frog.....

Joy hid my basket and I found it. I hid hers to find the next morning ... which we realized after the fact wasn't the most food safety awareness thing I'd ever done -- boiled eggs sitting out at room temperature for 8+ hours. "Needless to say, there were some of our eggs we didn't eat" including the one Joy only found YESTERDAY! "We tend to think it's a time bomb." I put it in with the baby diapers, which also constitute biological warfare. Sadly, Joy had left her basket on the stove earlier, so her chocolate eggs got melted pretty bad. The Easter bunny decided in all justice to switch our chocolate eggs around, so she still got the good ones.

"We're going to have to get some more Wanka eggs next year." Those were wonderful.

For dinner we had corned beef and cabbage, I guess celebrating Easter in Ireland. You've heard of Easter Island, well this is Easter Ireland. "Corned beef is so good!"

And that sounds a lot like Easter at the Watsons' this year. Oh, by fortuitous happenstance, I was reading John's account of the crucifixion on Saturday and the resurrection on Sunday. That's just how my reading happened to fall out. That was nice. Joy had made Easter nest cookies the week before (butterscotch chips, Chinese noodles, Crisco mixed together for the nest, then plop a few peanut M&Ms in for the eggs). They're cute. Decorative and delicious.

And THAT sounds a lot like Easter at the Watsons' this year.

None Were with Him

This video shows an excerpt from my favorite talk from General Confernece that happened last week. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, a modern day apostle, describes and testifies of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He speaks vividly and specifically about the loneliness of our Savior as He performed His greatest miracle, the ransom of our souls. How thankful I am for His sacrifice and for modern witnesses of His divinity.


The rest of the talk can be found here.

The Prophet, Thomas S. Monson, and his counsellors also released the following reaffirming witness:

At this Easter season of hope and renewal we testify of the glorious reality of the atonement and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The empty tomb brought comforting assurance and provided the answer to the question of Job, “If a man die, shall he live again?” (Job 14:14).

Because of the Savior’s resurrection we will overcome death and become the beneficiaries of His mercy and grace. In a world of trouble and uncertainty, His peace fills our hearts and eases our minds. Jesus is in very deed “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).

We give our sure witness that Jesus is the Christ. Though He was crucified, He rose triumphant from the tomb to our everlasting blessing and benefit. To each member of the human family He stands as our Advocate, our Savior, and our Friend.

Life, Death, and Christmas

There has been a lot to think about this Christmas. I hope you'll forgive me for reciting the death toll for a moment before getting to the happier part, but in my more morbid moments it has seemed that Death has been delivering a great many telegrams this semester. If you'd rather skip all that, head on down to the dashed lines separating off Elder Wirthlin's testimony.

As you may remember, my good friend Evan Wade passed away earlier this semester. His death was quite sudden and unexpected. Timed as it was at the cusp of beginning so many wonderful things in life, it has made me feel particularly blessed to have been able to finish my own degree and be sealed to my wife. I commented to Joy the other day that I've been thinking of him regularly. I miss him, far more than I had expected.

Around Thanksgiving, Grammy had multiple strokes and the doctors also found there had been a heart attack at some point. This also was unexpected, and I find myself quite unprepared for the thought of Christmas without Grammy. In the last twenty years, that's been about the only time I've gotten to see her. Thankfully, Dad reports that Grammy is, to all appearances, fully recovered and doing miraculously well. But the realization of the fragility of mortality was hit home again. (This picture from the Ensign is of Grammy, though she doesn't actually need a wheelchair, then or now.)

A few weeks ago, Aunt Elizabeth died. I don't know that I ever met her or my great-uncle who is now left to mourn her loss. Uncle Calvin reported that she was "was released from the prison of her body" in hospice care after weeks of strokes and terrible pain. He is comforted that her death relieves her of the burden of that suffering, bringing her somewhere without the pain.

Last week our stake president succumbed to the battle he's fought with his cancer the last few years now. I didn't know Calvin Gehen well, but he had a powerful spirit with him at each stake meeting. He radiated peace and compassionate service, in part because you would sometimes never know how much he was suffering to be there. Being with him reminded me in many ways of the opportunities I've had to shake the hands of one of our apostles. Joy is hoping to sing in the choir at his funeral on Tuesday.

A couple weeks ago, Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin passed away. This was not particularly surprising since he was the oldest of the apostles. Though I've known a number of people who knew him (my friend Darrell married his granddaughter and my first mission companion was Elder Wirthlin's home teacher - which provided some interesting stories), I never had the privilege myself.

So today, since I'm sick and unable to attend church, I thought I would get around to watching Elder Wirthlin's funeral, which the Church has graciously put on their website. It was a beautiful service. (Other friends of Darrell will see him and his wife walking out of the funeral at 1:11:42-1:11:56. She's in a red sweater.) In my favorite talk that he ever gave, he told of the Savior's suffering in Gethsemane on Good Friday, reminding us that no matter how bleak the Fridays are that must inevitably come to all our lives, "Sunday will come." During the funeral service, I realized that he gave that talk just after his sweetheart had passed away, surely going through his own Friday. How important the testimony of resurrection morning is!

Among the words offered during the funeral, Pres. Boyd K. Packer shared with the family Elder Wirthlin's final testimony (it's about 30 minutes into the video), which he had spoken approximately the week before. Let me share a piece of it with you:
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From time to time if we are living worthily, the Spirit of God touches our hearts, and minds, and our lives, and improves us forever. The warm feeling penetrates our hearts, a silent, still small voice speaks to us, communicating through the burning of our bosom the knowledge given to us from God. It draws us closer to Him, sanctifying us and strengthening our desire to return to His presence. During such unforgettable moments, revelation comes to us and forever alters our view - sharpening our focus on what matters most. We sense more profoundly our eternal relationship with Him as the literal Father of our spirits. We also feel more acutely our complete dependence on the merciful atonement of His Son Jesus Christ.

I had such a revealing experience. It was Christmas time in Bavaria in the Alps in 1937. I have always loved Christmas. There is a special spirit about it. The chill of the winter air is the perfect counterpoint to the warmth that should fill our hearts as we contemplate the message of salvation found in the birth, resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I experienced that warmth many years ago while serving as a missionary for the church, just prior to the outbreak of WWII. As you might expect, the possibility of armed conflict was very intense, but as Christmas approached, our thoughts were drawn to the Savior. We rejoiced in the privilege of serving Him during that sacred season in the famous city of Salzburg, Austria.

On Christmas Eve, Elder S and I visited the village of Oberdorf, nestled securely in the beautiful Bavarian Alps. It was a clear, crisp winter night. We walked under the canopy of stars across the smooth stillness of newfallen snow to a humble little church where a familiar melody beckoned us with a message of peace and hope. [Pictured is the church to which he refers.]

Inside, a choir was singing in German a carol that brought warmth to our hearts on that cold winter night. Though we were far from our homes and families, we were filled with our Heavenly Father's love and comforted by His Spirit, as we listened to the calming strains of Silent Night, Holy Night.

Perhaps it was like the night that more than a century earlier inspired the assistant pastor in that quaint village to write the words to one of the most beloved hymns in all of Christendom. [He then tells the story of how the words and music came about.] As we listened to the choir's harmony while standing in the very same church where the first rendition of the sacred song was sung, we were spiritually moved. We were filled with the true spirit of Christmas.
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He told of how the Holy Ghost touched him and his companion at that time. As they walked the 15 miles back to their home, they spoke of a strengthened resolve to do what is right, to find a wonderful person with whom to spend eternity as husband and wife, and to keep their lives in focus with the principle and teachings of the Savior. He closed by saying, "I pray that our hearts and home may resonate with His marvelous message of love and peace during the holiday season. Forever with the apostle John, I testify that God so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son...."

I've been looking forward to this Christmas all year. It's the first time I get to play Joseph. I've been a shepherd many times; I'm far too young to be a wise man; I've even been a dumb ox sometimes; but I've always looked forward to being the dad. No, Joseph wasn't the father of Jesus, but he was the man with whom God entrusted His Son, as He has entrusted me with a precious delight named Hyrum.

After all, besides death, this year has brought life. Wonderful, sweet life that has filled and changed our hearts in marvelous, miraculous ways. We are not the only ones so blessed. My dear friend Marcy and her husband have a dear little Emma after years of praying; our dear friends the Petersons just welcomed their third little one into the world; my former home teaching companion and his wife just received their first blessing; and there are countless more Corbins and Daniels and Timothies and Janes and Millies and more.

Each year, their families and friends will celebrate their lives, putting on cone-shaped party hats and singing old songs off key and eating good food and giving presents to each other because they are so thankful that this precious child is still with us. Every year, we also celebrate with funny little red cone-shaped hats, singing old songs off key, eating good food, and giving presents to each other on society's best guess as to His birthday. For behold, a virgin conceived, and she bore a son, and she called His name Emmanuel: God with us. I am so thankful that we all get together as brother and sisters, friends, neighbors, and family to celebrate the birth and resurrection of our Savior as well, whose sacrifice and sacredness conquered death, inaugurated hope, and promised peace. God be praised for the matchless gift of His Son.

How was your weekend?

As I read my scriptures on Friday, one of the songs I listened to was by the BYU Concert Choir: Death Shall Not Destroy My Comfort. Google informs me you can find a copy of them singing it on Youtube. I've always had a thing for glorious songs in minor keys and this has been a favorite. I thought to myself as I heard it Friday that the next time I had to experience someone's passing, I would have to sit in a dark quiet room and listen to that with my headphones on to get a good, healing cry.

And if you imagine I recognized that as foreshadowing at the time, you give me too much credit.....

Death shall not destroy my comfort,
Christ shall guide me thro’ the gloom;
Down he’ll send some heav’nly convoy,
To escort my spirit home.

Joy and I finally made it out to the temple Saturday. I consider it quite an accomplishment since the last few times we've tried to go, something got in the way. This time when something got in the way, we ran over it and just went anyway. We saw a lot of friends from our temple shifts there who loved to meet our prodigy (who is currently engaged in doing his best to climb/fall into the laundry basket and cry for help). The wonderful thing of going to the temple is being able to be of service to people who passed on without the opportunity to receive the full blessings of the gospel for themselves. It is a beautiful testimony of God's love for all of His children and His desire to bring all of us home.

(Refrain):
Oh, hallelujah! How I Love my Savior,
Oh, hallelujah! That I Do.
Oh, Hallelujah! How I love my Savior!
Mourners, you may love him too.

I was very glad for the temple -- it took the edge off of some of the pain I've been feeling the last few days. I don't know why, but I just really haven't felt well. At one point on our drive to the temple, I pulled over to give Joy a turn driving because I was starting to feel unsafe on our heavily rained-upon roads. Today when I got up, I was sick enough that I couldn't make it to church and it's likely I'll be calling in sick tomorrow. Hopefully I can get well before my defense next Monday. If not, well, my "A" exam was also done under an illness induced haze.

Jordan’s stream shall not o’erflow me,
While my Savior’s by my side;
Canaan, Canaan lies before me!
Soon I’ll cross the swelling tide. (Refrain)



Joy kindly suggested I lay down for a nap while she took care of Hyrum when we got home. I hadn't been down long when our branch president (church leader) called. My good friend Evan Wade had "crossed the swelling tide." I still don't know most of the details, but apparently he skidded on the slick roads and crashed into a tree.

Evan "yes, I like putting odd statements in the middle of my name when I sign off an email" Wade came to Cornell the same year I did to major in Engineering. I'm not entirely sure why, but I decided to watch out for him that first year - help him get rides, encourage him in the church, and try to help support him going on a mission. I don't know that there was any real doubt of that happening, but I wanted to look out for him. He went on a mission to Finland and came back here, happy to see me. I still ended up giving him a lot of rides, which I never minded. He was set to graduate this winter, like me.

I home taught him for a year or so before he had met Cassie and I remember very fondly an evening he and I spent together while Joy was out of town, just talking about the gospel and his romantic hopes, and everything. I was so thrilled when he and Cassie announced their engagement!

We were home teachers together over the summer and for this year. The last time I saw him was home teaching the Browns on Wednesday where he praised Cassie, talked about how excited he was to be getting married and looking forward to graduation and life. I dropped him off, oddly enough, at our place where Cassie was waiting for him, gave him the traditionally overfirm handshake we had developed, and waltzed in happy to see my wife without considering I might not see him again. He was in the military and planning on spending a few months getting trained in submarines. He had an appointment to meet with them tomorrow. It seems God has other plans.

He loved jazz, played the sax, and while his voice wasn't the smoothest, he had an impressive range and power. We talked about music a good deal together. As we drove together the last time, I mentioned wanting to rent an accordian or a bagpipe from Cornell sometime soon so I could learn them. I wonder if he ever got the chance to pick up a piece by Hovhaness I recommended to him?

See the happy spirits waiting,
On the banks beyond the stream!
Sweet responses still repeating,
“Jesus! Jesus!” is their theme. (Refrain)

One of the greatest parts of the gospel is the knowledge that my wife, my son, my brother and his wife, and my parents are all sealed to me. That is, even death cannot separate us permanently. We have the promise that if we are faithful to our covenants, we can be together forever. A similar promise extends to our friends: "And that same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy" (Doctrine and Covenants 130:2). Evan may not have been perfect (he was a bit of a flake), but he was a good man who was doing all he could to follow the gospel of Jesus. In addition to my grandfathers - Derrill One and Grandpa Straw - and the generations before them, I have the hope that I will find my good friend Evan "on the banks beyond the stream" to welcome me home.

Our hearts go out to Cassie and Evan's family! Joy and I have talked ever so briefly in hushed tones of what it would have been like for her had I passed on March 05. We pray for you all regularly and are assured that in time the Spirit will speak peace to your hearts, with solace and comfort that only God can bring. That's why His peace surpasses all understanding (Phil 4:7) - it comes despite and during our afflictions. How comforting it is to know that "all things have been done in the wisdom of Him Who knoweth all things" (2nd Nephi 2:24) and that God who knows the end from the beginning has said, "Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever" (D&C 122:9).

Oh, hallelujah! How I Love my Savior,
Oh, hallelujah! That I Do.
Oh, Hallelujah! How I love my Savior!
Mourners, you may love him too.