Hyper-productive and the value of work

I have noticed more and more the influence of the principles of work and self reliance in being fulfilled and feeling aligned with our Father in Heaven. When we work to sustain ourselves and to care for that which we have been entrusted we begin to see the self worth that develops and we see the eternal light that can be in our lives. 

I think more and more the pattern the Gospel sets in welfare matters is a law that if employed in the world would alleviate a significant amount of suffering and sadness. The goal to help each make their own plan to become self reliant, and then supporting them in their plan and helping with temporary support while they work their plan. 

I guess this has come more into focus as we have had our experience over the last handful of years. As the business went further and further south, it became more and more difficult to support our family. We had dropped our income by 75% just to start, and then that became more and more squeezed. In the end we lost all we had worked decades to achieve and had to begin again. But this is all mitigated by the knowledge that I could work, I had skills, and could find more ways to support my family. And while our plans were shot down, we regrouped and have new plans. And through it all we have that eternal principle of work in front of us and the knowledge of a loving God active in our lives. We have seen more now than ever before His hand in our lives. I really have. 

So with this in mind I woke up yesterday and had a hyper productive day. We started in the yard and raked up all the leaves over the entire yard. We then mowed the lawn, trimmed, edged, and blew off the walks. I cleaned off the lower patio and bridge and then cleaned out the clogged gutters around the whole house. I took the blower up on the roof and that helped make it easier by blowing out the gutters. While up there I trimmed back the tree over the roof so it will be better. I cleaned the garage and arranged so we can get a car back in it. We then split wood for quite a while and in the end split about 2 cords of wood. I winterized 4 of the engines so the gas will not gum up the engines. I then edged more on the patios as I discovered the ground cover had encroached over 8 inches. Mom cleaned out the Mountaineer, then we cleaned the bathrooms (I got the main one with the tub since mom likes me to do that), and then I swept all the floors, cracks, under things, and edges. Then back out for more wood splitting until the rain stopped us. I cut the rebar that was stuck out of the tree in front that has bothered me for years (safety) by grinding it off, then used it to repair the anchor on the rose of Sharon by the mailbox. It was a great day. 

Ty was funny as he wanted someone to go to the dance with him. He tried texting a few people but they either were already with people or not going. Then he called Sam and when done exclaimed "I am glad you taught us verbal persuasive skills". He had convinced Sam to go who he found later had just finally convinced his brother he was NOT going and would not ride with him. 

I had a major hard week at work. So many major things going on with not enough time to really go after it the way I am comfortable with. I had to really work carefully on the most important things because I kept leaving early before Gavin left. 

Highlight of the week was being able to have our last days with Gavin and then taking him to the airport. He looks so good and happy. We heard such great comments from Michelle and Grandma Ward as they dropped him at the MTC. Gavin, I hope you will take in the remarkable spirit the MTC has and let it be an experience you will never forget. You will learn things you never have known. 

I love you all eternally. I am grateful for the binding covenants that allow us to be together forever, through our faithfulness. 

Dad

3 John 1:4

Wasted Effort

Have you ever gone to great extents and massive preparation only to have things fall flat or the thing you were preparing for get cancelled last minute?  

I really saw, felt and know this week about the scripture that the hearts of the children will be turned to their fathers ...or the earth would be utterly wasted. How disappointing it would be for our Father if the whole pulse of this earth was wasted?  That of binding families together for eternity. 

We had a marvelous session with Gavin at the temple doing sealings. We witnessed and participated an a remarkable opportunity to seal 6 children to their parents. In the same ordinance. It was for an ancestor of one of the Amish families that was there with us. I really am blessed to have been there and to reflect upon the sealing power of the temple and how it is "based upon our faithfulness". I hope each of you is doing your part. Mom and I try to do our best daily. 

I continue to lean heavily on the covenants and promises that come through the ordinances of the temple. I have been awestruck since the day I first heard them so many years ago. 

Gavin heard it today but I shared my testimony relating how I repeated basketball refereeing class at BYU 4-5 times and enjoyed it and learned more each time. I have been now repeating the temple class for 28 years and I keep learning new things as I go, ponder, and pray. 

One day I really hope to be in the temple with mom and all of you. It will bring great joy that lasts eternally. 

The camping trip was really fun with everyone. Kieren, you were carried in our hearts with us. It was a great final event with Gavin. The views were wonderful and the waterfalls amazing. I loved it. I am not a fan of rain while camping but everyone made it very reasonable and pitched whenever needed. 

It was cute to see Jeff and Skjelse walking down the mountain. Just see the picture. 

Work is very nuts right now. Too many significant deadlines and not enough time. And I have been trying to be home a lot to be with or help Gavin. 

I am so excited for Gavin to be at the MTC this week. It is such an amazing place and experience. I will always remember the things I learned and felt while there. Life changing for the better. 

Do the right things for the right eternal reason and think of the comment from Pres. Monson. "Shall I falter or shall I finish?"

Love you forever. 

Dad

3 John 1:4

#sharegoodness #temples #family

Best Weekend of the Year

I just don't know how to describe it, but I am flabbergasted by how much my love for conference increases each time. I love the leaders and how their messages reach out to me personally and help me to see how I can better myself in personal ways to be more the man I want to be. So that eternally I can pass by the sentinels that would guard the way back to eternal life in the celestial kingdom. 

I really liked Elder Robbins on Saturday, and Elder Kligeberg (spelling wrong) on Sunday. Pres.  Uchtdorf in the priesthood session spoke right to me. Each one teaches me things. 

I also loved that some of the talks were in the persons native language. First time ever. 

No matter the swirling winds around us, I can always anchor myself to the personal testimony of truth I paid the price to obtain and will never release. That is why I continue to feed it daily. I hope you will always do the same. Make a habit to have an inner personal desire to study the gospel and have meaningful prayer daily. When we push through the hard challenges and break past the point, we learn the truth that our Father is there to help us have eternal joy. That lasts forever. 

I helped mom get some new pictures in digital form so we can load them into family search and add to that family history work. 

We all helped Gavin who is helping Audrey next door clean up two huge ash trees that had died. A company took them down and we have cleaned up all but the main trunks now. We have to finish a few large pieces and then take all the branches stacked up in the driveway down to the city public works for shredding. I hope to take the day off and help Gavin do that. 

I am going to write to y'all in the same letter most weeks moving forward now. 

The motorcycle continues to be close to working well but just short. We are waiting for one final small part that shits the bike down when the bad one is in. So we have high hopes. It should come this week. 

I put this picture on Instagram this week, but I thought it was cool to "fly under cover" and be between two layers of clouds. It was really neat. 

That you for the decisions you make that support us being able to be together forever. We all need to do our part to make that possible. 

Love you forever. 

Dad

3 John 1:4

#sharegoodness #ldsconf

The Outward Appearance

Today was fantastic as a father. I got to see Skjelse and Jeff as well as the rest of the kids besides you. Gavin gave his farewell talk and did a wonderful job of great doctrine, excitement for his mission, and captivating stories that kept us all interested. 

I was especially touched as a dad in the morning when he was all dressed and ready, and had his messenger bag on his shoulder. He looks the part. Hence the outward appearance. And we know from his talk the Lord can see in his heart he is ready spiritually. He is going to be great. It is so pleasing to know we will have two of you serving 

I spent so much of Saturday cleaning the garage and trying to organize things. I consolidated lots of things and got rid of bulk items to make more room. We hope to fit the motorcycle in there and hope it is fixed soon. I found a slick way to hold the drills by using pvc pipe and so it is free. Ty helped me get it up. 

It has been unique at work to see people so frustrated at so many things and I feel like I was again a psychiatrist this last week. I seem to be one they come and vent at and unload their thoughts. I just try to listen and always keep an even temperament no matter what may go wrong at work. I am not perfect but I do try hard to avoid the Sam frustrations that so many let derail their day. 

We talked about talents in Sunday school today. It made me think about how we use the gifts we have been given and how w share those with others. I have not met anyone who is sad when they honestly help others with the gifts and talents they have. It's that way with service, you always have happiness enter into you when you serve others. Even Gavin has begun to see that as he stated that he loves the people of Mexico and he hasn't even met them
yet. It's just knowing where you are going and who you will be serving and the love begins to develop. 

Love the people you serve, serve those you love. It's magic!

Love you forever. 

Dad

3 John 1:4

The Motorcycle Redeemer

So, this topic is all about Gavin having the idea and us all laughing about how Gavin said he was sure I could find a lesson analogy in the motorcycle, and I immediately did. So he was right. 

We have spent month trying to fix it, diagnose, new parts etc and still no luck getting spark. So I finally broke down and found a guy who works out of his garage that repairs bikes and small engines.   We took it over to him, and he said he could start the next day. Before early afternoon he called and had found the problem, it was a relay that was bad, and recommended to replace that ( and other parts) to have it running great again. And he guaranteed it. He redeemed it from the junk yard fate it might have had. 

So it is with our lives. We try and try, work and work, search and search, but we will always fall short of being in great shape until we turn to the redeemer. He can take something that seems so complex and show us how simple a fix can change our lives and redeem us from the junk yard. And put us back on the joyous journey of life. Happy and running great. 

That was one of the great things this week. Saturday I spent time between mom's list for me, my list, and laying down to try and get energy. I got sick Wednesday and ended up staying home Thursday and Friday from work. I did so nothing the whole time. I was just so worn and miserable. Saturday I was not miserable but still tired. So I had tons of small jobs that I did. Like sealing a leaking gutter corner, fixing the computer cable, cleaning the AC filter, making room in the garage, cleaning the office, mowing and fertilizing the lawn, fix the riding mower so it doesn't drip gas from the carburetor, repairing the seat in Buzz, sending a email and pics to get a quote on fixing the rust on Buzz, etc. Lots of productive small things and rest in between nearly each and every one. 

It has been fun to have Gavin home. He has done so many good things. He is getting ready to leave and gives his talk next week in church. Then conference, fast Sunday, and off he goes. 

We are refinancing the house so we can get Darrin off the loan. I had to wait four years but it seems to be going very smooth. The appraiser came by this week and it will be interesting to see how the value comes out after all the work we have done. 

Love you forever, 

Dad

3 John 1:4

Members & Missionary Work

I spent a chunk of time this week pondering or working with the missionaries. I had some follow up from stake assignments, social media splits and feed ohio day, stake mission correlation, and had the zone leaders over for an unplanned dinner. All of it was great and serves to remind me of the important things here on earth. While I still have to live in the world, the level of stress, care, and concern just remains low when I remember what is most important. 

Saturday was a special day, it was the day I got ready for Sunday (did you sing the tune?) but really I spent the morning with the elders and at the Feed Ohio food pantry collection. I did study hour with the elders and worked on my talk for later this month. Then we had companion study and shared great thoughts on lesson preparation and the love that develops when you serve others. We headed out to the food pantry and helped for a while gather and sort the incoming food from everyone's individual efforts. To date we have over $2000 and over 2000 lbs of food. That is our ward only and this is a state wide effort with all types of faith based groups and businesses. 

I then did a bunch of yard work (it looks good) and we then headed off to pick up Gavin. It is nice to have him home. He looks great and is a joy to talk to. The afternoon I spent fixing the edger (I love the internet and it's tutorials) and still not being able to fix the motorcycle. 

We had three investigators at church today and two stayed for classes. They had really good comments and questions that added to the class. Right after church I had stake mission correlation. Pres. Valencia had to travel so it was the mission and I then Bro. Adams from the high council joined later. It was a wonderful discussion as we shared successes, struggles, and ideas we can all work on this month. They are so agreeable and willing to help in any way. I just hope we can do as well on the member side. We have so much room to grow. 

During the meeting the zone leaders had said they had not eaten today because of meeting and visits etc. so I texted mom to see if it was ok and then we invited them over. We had waffle bar and eggs. Basic but yummy. They are amazing. They have a unique spirit about them and the dedication they have to the work. 

I am talking about cultivating divine attributes later so if you have any insights, please share. 

Be awesome this week. Mom is amazing, be like her!

Love you forever,

Dad

3 John 1:4

The Art of Food

I had a great week. I finished up in China and had a safe trip back. It was a good day at church and productive work days after. Then I dreaded home excited to spend time with mom. She is my bestie. Always will be. I am so glad I have the assurance of an eternal sealing. 

For the last lunch I had in China they took me to a place where they had some plate decorations I thought you should see. So I attached those so you could see the creativity and variety. The white blobs are bunnies if you look close. 

When I got back I spent the rest of the week at home. I worked Saturday and the Labor Day holiday working in China so I "traded" those days for staying home. 

I bustled through the lawn and then edged for the first time in way too long. It looks so much better. And mom was much happier when it was done. I also weeded poison ivy since no one else dared. I double gloved up and was careful. Then tossed the gloves and washed everything I was wearing by itself. Hopefully I will be safe. 

I also got new rope and Ty helped me rehang the rope swing. We now have chain around the actual tree then rope from there. And we cut out a circle seat instead of a left over log. It's easier to use now. 

I didn't want to let the cars feel lonely so I washed, vacuumed, and waxed all three cars. I feel I need to do them every year or two whether the need them or not :). It is nice to get them cleaned up and protected. And they look much better. 

I also did a brake fluid flush on all three. Instead of paying $99 each I paid $8 each for new fluid. Alysia helped with 2 and Ty did one to learn. The old fluid was really bad so it was good to do. I had only one casualty of a wheel cylinder on the Uncle Larry and it was only $25 to replace. So still a big win. Alysia changed the tires and learned lots more as she helped me and did a bunch to learn. We got our hands dirty but it was good. 

I caulked up the porch and patio so now I can call those done. 

I also helped mom by doing the outside of all the windows including the gross bottom tracks and side channels that had tons of bugs growing. Yuck!  

Love you forever. 

Dad

3 John 1:4