The Past Way of Facing the Future

This entry is part of my general conference application series.

The Past Way of Facing the Future, by Elder L. Tom Perry
Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles


Do you ever wish for the imagined simplicity of days gone by? To sit on the front porch of the farm without distractions or busy-ness to draw attention?

I do.

But then I realize that I have very little practical skills, and I return to the present. But what about the innovations and ingenuity that occurred in the last 200 years? Ronald Reagan (and Elder Perry) have the following to say:

I do not want to go back to the past; I want to go back to the past way of facing the future.

Although I've been to the Manti temple only a few times, those visits are quite memorable to me. I recall going with my roommate and a friend, where I first heard that the temple's roof was designed as an upside-down boat. At this visit, a temple worker gave us a guided tour of the temple, including an impressive trip to one of the temple's two spiral stairways constructed without a central support (see picture below, which I didn't take, btw).


I made another visit a few years later, now married, with our then one-year-old only child. We enjoyed spending time on the temple grounds building memories.


The pioneer-era temples provide a level of inspiration even above the more modern temples. I enjoyed when Elder Perry waxed philosophical, hearing the following in each room of the Manti Temple:

Look at what we built with our own hands. We had no power equipment. No contractors or subcontractors were involved in the construction, no fancy cranes to lift up the heavy stones. We performed this labor under our own power.

The conclusion of this impressive recounting is the importance of "having a working knowledge of the basic principles." Elder Perry ties this all together:

Embedded in the gospel of Jesus Christ there are eternal principles and truths that will last far longer than the principles of building ships and roofs. . . . You and I both know how important these eternal principles and truths are in our lives. I’m not sure those early pioneers could have faced the perils and uncertainties of the future without them, and neither can we. They are the only true and eternal way to face the future.

We love to imagine living in the good old days (at least certain parts of the good old days!), but perhaps what made the good old days so "good" was the past way of facing the future. I want to employ clever ingenuity as I face problems of today, remembering always the eternal principles and truths that are so important.

Our Perfect Example

This entry is part of my general conference application series.

Our Perfect Example, by President Henry B. Eyring
First Counselor in the First Presidency


Today was a perfect day for this talk, following President Monson's talk yesterday. Here's why:

I felt like I had forgotten that I have a choice in becoming angry, and President Monson's talk reminded me that I don't have to get angry (or, rather, choose to be angry), I can show love instead. I approached today, really wanting to not fail.

I did all right.

As I tried to be Christ-like, I realized my goal.

Will I be able to continue showing love instead of choosing to be angry? I hope so. Nevertheless, I understand that reality may just be a process of becoming. President Eyring taught:

We believe that through living the gospel of Jesus Christ we can become like the Savior, who is perfect. . . . None of us is perfect yet. But we can have frequent assurance that we are following along the way. He leads us, and He beckons for us to follow Him.

What was it about today that was so great? In one word: Love.

If I want to maintain that love, I'll do well to follow President Eyring's admonition:

Love is the motivating principle by which the Lord leads us along the way towards becoming like Him, our perfect example. Our way of life, hour by hour, must be filled with the love of God and love for others . . . go out today looking for opportunities to do as He did and to love as He loves.

I'm grateful for the successes that I find as I forget myself (and my way of messing things up) and follow Christ, our perfect example.

School Thy Feelings, O My Brother

This entry is part of my general conference application series.

School Thy Feelings, O My Brother, by President Thomas S. Monson


I'm in the middle of listening to an interview discussing parenting (link). Near the beginning, the interviewee mentions a study where children were exposed to fighting parents, and the responses recorded. Here's what he said:

Normally when a kid watches a fight between parents, an argument, a quite heated conflict, that kid will then lash out afterwards or during it and act aggressive. But there's one thing that happened in those experiments that makes all that aggressive behavior in the child go away: it's watching the fight get resolved, it's watching your parents work it out in a constructive way.

I can see that, if given the choice, it is preferable to have children learn how to peacefully resolve conflicts over seeing only escalation with no conclusion. However, what isn't mentioned (at least not that I've heard yet) are studies of parents teaching their children to school their feelings and not even get angry to begin with.

Does this sound impossible?

I'm reminded of the life-changing (hopefully) observation that Elder Robbins made in 1998: "Becoming angry is a conscious choice, a decision; therefore, we can make the choice not to become angry. We choose!" (link to talk)

President Monson agrees:

No one can make us angry. It is our choice. If we desire to have a proper spirit with us at all times, we must choose to refrain from becoming angry.

I guess it's not impossible. In fact, President Monson continued, "I testify that such is possible."

In a recent church lesson, we were discussing anger, and I asked, "We read of righteous indignation; is anger ever justified?" After some great discussion, we concluded that, No, anger is not ever justified.

If our goal is to always have the Spirit to be with us (see D&C 20:77, 79, the sacrament prayers), then perhaps the following question can help more than our lesson discussion:

I ask, is it possible to feel the Spirit of our Heavenly Father when we are angry? I know of no instance where such would be the case.

Unfortunately, I know all of this, but I still fail. It seems that every night my personal prayers have a significant portion where I admit that I have failed, again, and plead for help to do better. While Elder Andersen would say, "Don't be discouraged. If you are striving and working to repent, you are in the process of repenting," (see his talk this conference) I still live with disappointment every time I choose to be angry (previously termed 'lose my temper'). Perhaps I'm on the right track.

This I know, I want to do as President Monson taught. In fact, just tonight, as we were having family scripture study, my son said, "Daddy, I love President Monson. I wish he could be president forever!" As I continue to work on improving my choices, I hope to remember President Monson's charge:

May we make a conscious decision, each time such a decision must be made, to refrain from anger and to leave unsaid the harsh and hurtful things we may be tempted to say.

CROP Walk

Each year, my family participates in the Austin CROP Hunger Walk (CROP stands for "Communities Responding to Overcome Poverty"). This is an event where participants raise donations from friends (you) in order to help combat the growing problem of hunger—both locally and world-wide. In addition, funds raised help victims of the recent earthquakes (e.g. in Haiti and Chile).

I'll be walking with my family and I'm looking to find friends who will either make donations to the organization or come and join me in the walk. 75% of the funds go toward global hunger resources and 25% stay local (Austin).

This is us last year.

"What can I do to help?" you ask: You can simply donate using the secure CROP Walk site (link), or you can join in on the fun this weekend, either Saturday or Sunday (location info, link), and raise sponsors/funds from other friends. (Here is my family's CROP Walk site: link.)

Want additional information? The CROP Walk website, www.cropwalk.org, has links for additional information.

-Additional Information-
Official Austin Website: www.main.org/cropwalk/ for more information.

Main CROP Website: www.cropwalk.org

You can make donations or join in the cause from any of the above sites, but it is easiest from my family's CROP site.

-CROP Walk Specifics-
The walk will be held on Saturday and Sunday (March 6 & 7) at Walter E. Long Park (map), at 9:30 am (Saturday) and 1:45 pm (Sunday).

Be Ready

This entry is part of my general conference application series.

Be Ready, by President Henry B. Eyring
First Counselor in the First Presidency


One of the worst things about being a parent is having an ill or injured child and feeling helpless—not knowing what to do. It is at these times that I am especially grateful for priesthood blessings. However, these times come with little or no warning, which leaves me asking, "Am I ready?"

President Eyring reminds that preparation "must begin long before the crisis which requires priesthood power."

Priesthood blessings are a sacred rite, which I revere. "It is the right to call down the powers of heaven."

Understanding the source of the power makes proper preparation more understandable. President Eyring put this in a new light when he taught that we need to not only "have faith that God lives," but "that [we] have won His confidence to allow [us] to use His power for His purposes."

I love the somber reminders encapsulated in that second faith item (regarding confidence): first, that it is not only the power of God, but the purposes of God; second, that God has confidence in us—in me! This second part is what stood out to me the most from this message (at this reading).

I'm reminded of the story of J. Reuben Clark discussing trust with his children (they were talking about curfews). When asked if he trusted his child, the reply was, "No, my [child], I don’t trust you. I don’t even trust myself" (I heard President Faust relay this, here).

I, too, share this feeling: I often don't trust myself. This puts an interesting spin on the need to have faith that God trusts us. However, I think I can identify the difference. I don't trust myself in matters of selfishness, but I have much more confidence in myself when my desires and interests are turned away from self (as in the case of wanting to help a sick/injured child or loved one). Because of this perhaps perceptively small distinction, I can (at times, at least) know that God trusts me, especially to "use His power for His purposes."

I'll end where I started. One of the worst things about being a parent is having an ill or injured child and feeling helpless—not knowing what to do. However, we know at least one thing we can do: we can be ready; ready to use the power of God, according to his will.

Often, when my children are ill, I'll be on the verge of asking if they would like a blessing when they look at me with loving eyes and ask, "Daddy, can I have a blessing?"

I want to be ready for times like these—because they come without warning.

As President Monson often reminds:

When the time for performance arrives, the time for preparation is past.