Temple Trip

We had the most amazing trip to the temple yesterday! My parents had taken the boys on Friday night and kept them through Saturday, so we could get a break and think through some critical family issues. As part of this process, we attended the temple. We ended up getting to bed a little later Friday than planned and decided to sleep in a little and attend a later session. As we walked into the chapel to wait for our session, we ran into John and Sandy Nielsen (Becca's parents) and said hello. It's always a wonderful surprise to see them, but an extra special treat to see them in the temple. Given what Sandy's been through over the last couple of years, I was pleased to see her looking so great. We had a good chat and separated, as they were invited out of the chapel.

We no sooner sat down (near the back, mind you) when we were asked to be the witness couple. We led the way up into the endowment room and, again to my surprise, found John and Sandy waiting in the same room! And to my even greater surprise, they were there with Jill and Craig and their oldest son, who was receiving his endownment for the first time in preparation for his mission! What an awesome experience to be there in our position for such a momentous occasion for a family I love so much!

After the session, as I met up with the family in the celestial room, I spoke for a moment to Jill, who said how great it was to have us there - "It was almost like having Greg and Becca here! We miss them so much!" That made me feel great. I also shared with her that, when I saw her and her son together in the session, I envisioned my lovely wife there with our sons as well. The thought brought tears to both of our eyes, and she told me to cherish the time now, because we'll be in their position before we know it. I don't doubt it for a second, although it still feels like a long time until then.

And, lest you think that was the end of the pleasant surprises... My family's long-time home teacher when I was growing up -- Bro. Gubler -- sat next to me in the same session. Sitting next to him was his son, who was also getting his endowment in prep for his mission. Too cool...

As He does so often, I'm sure the Lord had His hand in guiding us to the session we attended. It was exactly what I/we needed...

Faith and Works

It's been a while since I posted anything of a religious nature... But as I read Greg's blog post this morning, I was uplifted by his articulation of our beliefs around faith and works. This is an often-misunderstood tenet of our faith, and it's worth a read -- whether you're of the LDS faith or not.

Thanks for the morning boost, Greg!

Creations, Part 3

Conversion

A drop of light, it falls onto
A darkened, hardened soul;
And sifts through cracks and crags alike,
Invading hidden coves.

The drop of light then turns to rain;
The rain into a storm;
The storm into a dreaded flood
That drives the soul to scorn.

Afraid, the troubled soul attempts
The flood to barricade;

To save the dark, familiar place

From changes heaven-made.

But tardy efforts cannot halt

The flooding of the soul,

With light and life and truth unfeigned

By one who holds them all.

Tragedy Breeds...

Sadness... Anger... Questions... Grief... Doubt...

Tragedy can also yield compassion, sacrifice, leadership, bonding, strength, change, faith and much more... I saw these things up close and personal this week as the group I support as an HR generalist lost a teammate in a terrible and senseless domestic violence-related death.

Melissa was killed in the parking lot of a nearby apartment complex by her estranged husband, who then turned the gun on himself and committed suicide. Nothing can prepare you for being pulled out of an otherwise-normal team meeting with a business team leader to be told this kind of news by the person's manager. But that's where I found myself Tuesday morning...

My emotions ran high all week, but particularly on Tuesday, as we struggled through how to deal with this issue... How and when do we inform and support our other employees? What is appropriate for us to say and do and what's not? What are our legal responsibilities? What should we do about her office? Are there any other security concerns to think about? How can we help people through this and hold up ourselves while we do?

While I didn't know Melissa, she was clearly a kind and fun person, a friend to many and a valuable contributor to the teams on which she worked.

I've had so many thoughts going through my head this week... What can I learn from this -- b0th personally and professionally? I'm so grateful for my faith and knowledge of God's plan of happiness for us. That I know why we're here and where we go when we die. I'm so lucky to have a wife and children whom I love and trust and who love me in return. While I haven't distilled my thoughts into words or even firmly grasped the full spectrum of learning yet, I want to share one thing...

While I wish this never had happened, I'm so grateful to have gone through this experience with this team of people. Not just the HR team, but the entire business team we support as well and all those behind-the-scenes who helped those of us on the front line through it all. I saw the true greatness in many people come out into the open this week. The leader of Melissa's team was incredible. A very rational and analytical person by nature, I saw him demonstrate superb and admirable leadership, compassion, thoughtfulness and humanity in general. I learned much from him this week.

I saw employees offer each other support, being willing to set aside deadlines and take on more work to allow the most directly impacted team time to grieve and get through the first few days.

I also saw an HR team that had never gone through something like this (out of three people, two of us are brand new -- one of us three weeks and the other two days -- to the HR generalist role) pull together and draw on all the resources at their disposal, locked at the hip, to do something none of us would have been able to do alone. I also saw a team of people behind the curtain raise the bar in terms of providing largely unrecognized support that enabled us to do our jobs on the ground -- all without much, if any, of the expressions of sincere gratitude that we all received from our clients.

My prayers and thoughts are with the families of those who lost their loved ones this week and all those who knew and loved them...

Grandpa S Got A New Lung!

As promised, I wanted to tell about a great experience in our family this last weekend. I apologize in advance for the wordiness of the story, but it means a lot to me, so I don't want to short-change the details, as someone may find inspiration there...

To start, my father-in-law (S) contracted a lung disease many years ago, where his body attacked his own lungs and left them scarred and increasingly inefficient at absorbing oxygen from the air he breathed. I won't even try to get into the details of the illness, but it made him cough more and more over the years and eventually left his lungs severely scarred.

Over time, it became apparent that he was going to need a lung transplant to keep going. He has been on supplemental oxygen for about two years now, I think, and his lung capacity was reduced to critical levels (i.e., about 1/3 at rest, and that decreased dramatically when he became active). After a long struggle to complete the requirements to get on the list for a lung transplant, they finally listed him last Monday. Then, an amazingly short six days later, he got the call on Saturday night that a donor had died and that a lung was on its way to Stanford, where he was staying and waiting for the surgery.

His wife rushed to catch the earliest flight to San Fran that she could. By the time she got there Sunday morning, the 8-hour surgery was nearly complete. We kept our cell phone on at church on Sunday in case any news came through. Sure enough, halfway through Sacrament Meeting, we got a call letting us know that the surgery went perfectly and that he was doing well so far. The story only gets better in that, by Sunday afternoon, he was sitting up, smiling and asking for his books (he's an avid reader). He has continued to improve since that point as well, and we're hoping for a grand recovery and several more years of his welcome company here on Earth. Maybe he'll even put up with me snagging more flies in trees on fishing trips! :)

At times of great suffering, people often turn to God more earnestly than they do otherwise. While I'd like to think we turn to him as a family all the time, I must say that we did pray more earnestly and with perhaps greater faith than we have at other times to petition the Lord for his blessings on behalf of S as he went through this experience. I don't think it was a coincidence that this all happened on the day that my mother-in-law called a family fast for her husband. Now, our fast on Saturday night and Sunday took on a different twist than we had anticipated, and I know that God heard and answered our prayers for S.

Finally, after hearing that he was getting a lung, we knelt together as a family and prayed, not only for him, but also for the family who had lost a loved one that enabled our father and grandpa to receive this great blessing. I was personally overcome with gratitude for this individual's and family's gift to our family. I continue to hope and pray that (1) they're comforted through their loss and (2) they somehow know that great good came of their difficulty/loss.

Needless to say, I've "seen God" many times this last week...

Mission Memory

As I was going through our family photo CDs (way too late) last night to pull out some photos for a school project D is working on, I came across a folder of pictures from my mission in Austria (1992-1994) that I had scanned in about 5 years ago. In that folder was the picture you see below of the Jevtic family's baptism day:

When I saw the photo, I recalled one of my most prized memories from the two years I spent teaching the people of Austria about the gospel of Jesus Christ. My companion and I weren't actually the missionaries who were teaching the Jevtic family, but the sister missionaries who were couldn't make it to the appointment that night, so they asked us to go in their place. It so happened that we were to teach them that night about sacrifice and invite them to live the law of tithing (i.e., contribute 10% of all your increase to the church to fund things like temples and new church buildings, programs in the church, etc.). Given their meager circumstances (they had recently moved to Vienna from Serbia and were struggling, to say the least), we were concerned that this invitation may be a challenge for them to accept. When we taught them about sacrifice, however, the Spirit was so strong! And when we invited them to live the law of tithing, Milo (the dad) said, "Only ten percent? I would give everything I have if you asked me!" I was so filled with joy at that moment! That kind of faith doesn't come along everyday...

Of course, that's not what the Lord has asked of his people (to give everything). But the willingness to do so if God were to ask shows a level of humility and faith that is admirable in any person -- let alone a family who is struggling just to get by. That experience has impacted me deeply; I think of it often when I pay our tithing...

What motivates a person to be willing to give up everything they have for God? I believe it's faith. Faith that we don't know everything that Heavenly Father knows and that He would never ask us to do something that was not for our good. Faith that with sacrifice comes great blessings. Hoping and believing in something that we can't see but that is true. That's what motivated Milo that night to accept the invitation to live the law of tithing, and it's what motivates every true follower of God to remain faithful and devoted to what's good and true, even when it's hard.

Happy Birthday, S!!!

As a father, I see God every day in my three sons, whom I love dearly. I want to take a minute now to write a note to/about my second son, S, who turns 8 today. How proud I am to call him my son... He's smart, creative, sensitive, handsome and thoughtful, among many other positive qualities.

Eight is an extra special birthday, as it is the age of accountability when we can take the important step of being baptised and receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost. S has not only accepted this invitation, but he's very excited about it. I'm so please as his father to see him choose to take this meaningful step in his life and make this important covenant with his Heavenly Father. I've received so many blessings as a result of my baptism and of having the Holy Spirit as a constant companion in my life to comfort, strengthen and guide me; and I'm excited that he will now have these great blessings too.

I love you, S! Happy Birthday! I can't wait to go to LazerQuest with you tonight! :)

Nerves

I had a conversation today with a friend at work about a concern regarding a group dynamics issue in a team we're both working on. I was so nervous to talk to him about it -- not because I thought that it was that big of a deal and not because I think he's a bad guy or anything... Simply because I'm SO relationship-oriented that I get nervous every time I think about delivering constructive feedback and the impact it may have on our relationship. In this particular case, I hadn't worked with this person on an individual basis in the past, so I didn't have much built up with him in the way of personal "credits." If I wasn't able to communicate that I had his and the group's best interest at heart, I could damage the relationship more than help it. Such was the situation this morning before I talked to him. Nerves...

On my way to his office, I passed an office with a woman sitting at a single corner desk unit in the back corner, and all around her were boxes piled to the ceiling. It looked like someone had stuffed her into a closet to work -- not an ideal work environment... I had been thinking of something to break the ice, and this provided the perfect conversation starter. Turns out the woman manages a program, and all of the boxes were materials for an event she's managing in the near future. Regardless, we laughed about it and then broke off into about 30 minutes of conversation about his (fascinating) job. By the time we turned our attention to the purpose I had requested the meeting (i.e., the feedback), we had built a more personal bridge between us, and I felt like I could talk to him in a way that established clearly my interest in his success and that of the team. The rest of the conversation went well... He received the feedback with grace and concern for doing what's best for the project and the team. No need for nerves... Or was there?

For me, nerves are a good thing, as long as they don't cripple me from taking needed action. Nerves heighten my senses and force me to stop and think carefully through my actions and approach for what I think really needs to take place. In some cases (such as this one), it helps me crystalize the details of the feedback I want to give. Is it really as important as I think it is? What is the impact of the issue at hand? Do I have the other person's interests at heart? Do I have a heart at peace or a heart at war? Do I have a plan for how I'm going to address it? Have I thought about specific examples that will help the person make effective use of the feedback and not just walk away frustrated from the experience?

Other times, nerves force me to take a step back and realize that moving forward with the action isn't what is best -- for the other person, for me or for the team/organization. Maybe my heart isn't right toward the other person, and it's best to hold off until I sort out my own issues first. Maybe the issue is too small or confined to a moment that is passed to take the time to talk about it. Maybe I just don't care enough about the issue to risk a bad outcome... Whatever the case, sometimes being nervous can be a sign that I haven't thought through the details thoroughly enough.

In the end, today turned out well. I had a great conversation with someone I now consider a friend and who I hope will consider me an ally who cares about his success, I learned a lot about a really cool job and the team was able to move past what I felt was a roadblock that was keeping us from being as effective as we could be now and in the future. To boot, I feel personally more confident each time I have a successful experience like this.

Before I round this out, I'd be remiss not to mention that I had a prayer in my heart going into this discussion that I would be able to convey my true motivations for providing the feedback, and I feel that my prayer was answered. So, you could say I saw God today in a simple answer to a simple prayer and a strengthened relationship with a colleague.

So, here's to nerves... And prayer...

A Uniquely Uplifting Weekend

What a weekend… Twice a year, I'm privileged to take part in the LDS General Conference, where the general authorities of the church address the church as a whole across the world via radio/TV/satellite broadcast from Temple Square in Salt Lake City. There are, in all, five two-hour sessions over the course of two days, where church leaders (i.e., men and women) from around the world give brief sermons between 10 and 30 minutes each.

While General Conference is always uplifting and inspiring, this was a unique opportunity, as it was a Solemn Assembly. That is, it was a meeting where an apostle is newly sustained as the president of the church. In this meeting, the new prophet's name is presented to the members of the church, who have the opportunity to raise their right arm to the square to pledge their personal commitment and support to him as the new church president. While this would look to anyone walking by as a vote, it actually is not (a prophet is called of God, not by the people of the church). Rather, it's an outward expression of an inward commitment to follow his counsel and support him as the one person on Earth that God has chosen and set apart to hold the priesthood keys to govern the affairs of the true Church of Jesus Christ on the Earth.

In this case, President Gordon B. Hinckley -- a man whom I personally greatly revered -- died a couple of months ago. The mantel of leadership then fell to the next senior member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, President Thomas S. Monson. The other apostles, who collectively hold all the priesthood keys necessary to govern the church, laid their hands on his head and ordained him as the new president. By so doing, they passed all of those keys to him and making him the one person with the right to exercise all of those keys in our day to govern the Kingdom of God on the Earth.

In preparation for General Conference, I prayed many times for a personal confirmation in my heart by the Holy Spirit that President Monson is indeed the prophet God has called for today. You see, whereas, some believe that we (i.e., Mormons) follow blindly, there is nothing further from the truth. In actuality, we are admonished to pray individually for a very personal, spiritual confirmation of the truth of any principle of the Gospel (or of anything, for that matter). This principle of personal revelation of Truth through the Holy Ghost is revealed plainly in verses 3-5 of Moroni Chapter 10. If anyone will read (or listen/watch) and ponder (or think about) a teaching, then pray to ask God if it's true, He will confirm if it is true through the Holy Ghost in your heart. The feelings of the Holy Ghost are described in the Bible, in Galations 5:22-23. My personal experience is that God hears and answers sincere prayers. He guides those who love Him to Truth and away from error by means of His Spirit when they pray fervently and are open to hearing and acting according to His answers -- whatever they may be.

It was after this method that I received my own testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is how I know that the Bible and the Book of Mormon are true testimonies of Jesus Christ's divinity. This is how I know that we have a living prophet of God on the Earth today in President Monson. And, knowing this, my following the counsel he gives us is in no way "blind obedience." Rather it is being true to my heart and to the witness I have received through my own proactive efforts to ask God for myself whether it is indeed true. I know it, and I can't deny it. How blessed I feel to know it.

I saw God this weekend in a very real way, manifest in the calling of a living prophet to lead and guide His church. Not a bad way to spend a weekend, really… ;)

Technology

I saw God today when I was playing with a Surface table in the lobby of building 19 before taking a bunch of HR Trax candidates to lunch. When I think of all the amazing technology I'm surrounded by every day, I feel strongly that mankind has developed these things as a result of the long history of inspiration that's been given to men and women through the ages, beginning with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (and before that, for that matter) all the way down to today and onward. Knowledge is a result of gospel light and truth, the source of which is God. While it's appalling how the technology is sometimes employed, God has given mankind its agency to choose to act according to our own free will -- for good or otherwise. It's even more amazing to see how technology is applied to improve lives, decrease poverty, increase prosperity and enable the communication of faith and testimony throughout the world.

Did you see God today? Where?

I Saw God Today

I was listening to the radio with Kirsten in the car yesterday and heard the song by George Strait, "I Saw God Today." It reminded me of one of my favorite Bible verses...

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. (Matthew 5:8)

Pres. Henry B. Eyring (one of the first presidency) also spoke on a similar topic recently, when he said that we should take time at the end of every day to think back and notice the times when God manifested His hand in our lives AND that we should write them down. He said that God gives us these faith-promoting experiences not for ourselves many times, but for those who come after us. So, by failing to write them down, much of the value of the experience is lost on us.

Along these lines, I want to start taking time as often as I can to record the time when I see God. Oftentimes, those are fleeting moments during the day that I forget about by the time evening arrives and I'm settling down for the night. Still, Pres. Eyring promises that, if we pray and ask God to remind us about those moments, then He'll answer our prayer and do so. I believe him, and I want to be better at doing that.

And, because it's a habit I'm trying to start, I'm going to ask you all to help me develop it. If you don't see me writing about the times when I see God (they're many), please comment and ask me! So, for today...

I saw God today in the eyes of my youngest son when he snuggled with me in the "nest" (i.e., the big hole in the middle of the beanbag chair. He looked at me with his blue eyes, smiled real big and gave me a kiss on the cheek. God doesn't get much closer than that.

I also saw God today when the Spirit was present in our Sunday School classroom. The look in some of the kids' eyes was unmistakeably different than so many times when I can't calm them down. They felt the Spirit, as did I, bearing witness to the Truth. I saw God in that...

When did you last see God?

Improvement and Perfection

I teach what I think is the greatest group of 12-13 year old boys and girls in Sunday School every other week (i.e., I team teach with a friend of mine). They're so full of energy and excitement about life that sometimes it's hard to get them to settle down long enough to have an atmosphere that resembles reverence. That said, I think it's a lot easier to invite the Spirit to be present when I prepare in advance to set up the right atmosphere.

Today, I set up the classroom in advance so that reverent music was playing and wrote a scripture on the chalkboard for them to think about, along with a note that said, "Please sit silently and listen to the music." The scripture was 1 Corinthians 2:9, which reads:

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

I then related a personal story about repentence when I was a teenager. How I had worried and had to build the courage to talk to my bishop and then been relieved and surprised to find that he was loving and supportive and encouraging of my efforts. He ensured me that Heavenly Father loved me and was pleased with my desire to be closer to Him. And once I took that step, a flood of blessings poored out that He (God) had been anxious to give me. One simple (or maybe not to so simple) decision was all it took. And, as I reveled in the moment, I noticed a printed out quote on my bishop's wall that has stuck with me ever since. It said:

Gradual improvement is better than postponed perfection.

That saying has been an inspiration to me many times over throughout my life since that day. As many mistakes as I make from day to day, I've never felt like I was forsaken, as I know that if I'm trying every day to be better than the last -- even if I sometimes slip backward a step or two -- repentence and forgiveness is one decision away, and I can be on my way to moving forward again toward my goal of eternal life and eternal joy.

I'm grateful for the blessing I have of a testimony of the living and true gospel of Jesus Christ.

New First Presidency Photo

Thanks to Greg for pointing out that the LDS Church recently released the official photo of the new First Presidency. (The First Presidency is the foremost leadership body of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and includes the current prophet and president of the Church and his two counselors, from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.)