Building Upon The Rock

What a fantastic start to a wonderful month. I have the distinct privilege to teach priests quorum today, combined Melchizedek priesthood next week, and give a sacrament meeting talk the next week. In all of these focusing on Christ has been a common theme. Regardless of the troubles in our lives when we remember remember that it is upon the rock of our redeemer that we must build our foundation then we can weather the storms that swirl around all of us. 

In priests quorum they were wonderful as we discussed together ways we can build a defense and in the end the best is to build our lives around the study of the savior. They had many great ideas and I liked when Ty chimed in with "strengthening our sword of the spirit" with prayer and scripture study.  It is remarkably simple yet more effective than any other tools we can employ. 

Later that day in thinking of building our defenses I was counseling and was led to discuss the war chapters of the Book of Mormon. Think of captain Moroni and how so many times, again and again, he always stayed one step ahead of the Lamanites. Armor, then walls, then banks of earth etc. in all this we can do the same to remain one step ahead of Satan and his continued attacks on our lives. Consider what C.S. Lewis said about this (courtesy of Austin Z)

"No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good. A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find out the strength of the German army by fighting against it, not by giving in. You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness — they have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means — the only complete realist."

C.S. Lewis

I especially love the last bit, Christ really does show the perfect example and perfectly understands. He is there to help us through every step we need to take. Regardless of the size of the path forward or its obstacles. 

I am pleased to be home from work tomorrow. Labor Day. It will be a nice break. I am so appreciative of the job I have. Good company, good people, challenging work, and supportive leadership. But I work to be able to be home, not the other way around. I haven't decided what to do but you can be sure I will try to accomplish something. 

Yesterday I got a bunch done with help from everyone. Especially Ty. We worked on the motorcycle and fixed a non working indicator light. We also have the cover of the control panel drying with an epoxy so it will seal the crack. (You should love our high tech clamping mechanism!)  

We took apart the dash on the maxima and corrected a sticking fuel indicator, and found a loose brake shim on the rear brakes that I think was causing a squeak. The riding mower is a pain again and was leaking gas like there was no stop at all. We fixed that by working on the float needle and seat in the carb but now it won't stay running for more than a few minutes. I may try to tackle that again tomorrow. Mom was a,along and mowed the whole lawn with the walk mower while we were trying to get it to stop leaking so bad. 

Friday was fun, we had a "FHE with the bishop" and had a FHE opening and lesson, then watched Meet the Mormons movie. We did that Friday night and had popcorn and snow cones. About 50 people came. It was low key and only if people wanted to come. But one investigator, Ray, commented to the missionaries how much he appreciated it and how he felt, especially about the discussion before and after the movie. 

Counsel often, it is amazing how solutions to your problems come as you counsel. I am seeing that big and bold in my life. Home, family, church, work. Everywhere. 

Love you forever,

Dad

3 John 1:4