A Daily Slice of Awesome

I had a Presidency Meeting yesterday, and we were discussing some possible topics for a future Elder's Quorum lesson. My counselor in charge of this upcoming meeting mentioned that he had been thinking a lot about how we as people living in this world, fallen as it is, can rise above that and find joy. It's a good topic. The world we live in is seriously troubling. Natural disasters, wars, corruption, and all manner of mayhem stretch from one side of the globe to other and up and down. Incivility at work and amongst the community, on and off-line, is the usual rather than the exception. The more connected we get to the world through devices the more I'm convinced we actually interact less, and in less meaningful ways. It's easier to email than call someone. It's easier to express oneself, often rudely or inanely, on Facebook than it is to find a friend and have lunch. Despite all of that, I continue to find and be surprised at the cool things out there in the wo...

I'm sure there are no shortages of commentary about the announcement of a reorganized First Presidency. Of no particular import, but interesting I suppose, I have shaken the hand of each member of the First Presidency. I believe that to be the first time I have been able to say that. I shook Pres. Oaks's hand when I was twelve or so, at a stake conference in Seattle. He was walking up the aisle to get to the rostrum and I stuck out my hand before he walked past. I think I startled him. I shook Pres. Eyring's hand on my mission, when he visited on a tour of South Korea. He spent time with us and taught us about loving as the Savior did. I shook Pres. Nelson's hand much more recently when he visited my stake here in Oregon. He taught us about the Book of Mormon, and found to his delight that his new pair of scriptures said and worked much the same his previous set had. My testimony now is the same as it was then, these are men called of God and are disciples of Je...

My wife was out of town ferrying a niece off to college and I had the kids for several days, by myself. I'm moderately proud of myself. They were alive, fed, sort of washed, and the house wasn't burned down or looked like a tornado had blown through when she got back. I'm even more proud because my daughter got sick on Friday with a stomach flu bug. I hate throw-up. I'm sure everyone does. From 5PM to about 12:30AM, she did battle with the bug valiantly until she came off conqueror and both of us were able to sleep. My son finally began today. I gotta say, he's a trooper. He doesn't complain. He gets in there, gets it done, and waits for the next time. I went in there to do a bowl change-out, just as he was completing another round. He finished, gave me a thumbs-up, and lay back down. Trooper. Both of them were. So, while the stomach flu is no fun and certainly not awesome, I have to say that my kids acquitted themselves well, even awesomely.