Prophets of God (Lesson 9)

In the movie Hoosiers, there is a scene where the small town boys from Hickory enter the field house on the campus of Butler University where the state championship game will be played.  As the team steps onto the court, wide-eyed at the vastness of the gym, Coach Dale pulls a measuring tape from his coat pocket and asks Buddy to hold it on the floor under the backboard while he pulls it to the foul line.  When he reaches the mark, Coach Dale asks, "What is it?" "Fifteen feet," Buddy replies.  Coach then asks Strap to put Ollie on his shoulders and hold the end of the measuring tape at the rim while Buddy pulls it to the floor.  "How far?" Coach asks. "Ten feet," Buddy replies.  While Coach Dale winds the tape, he looks at his team and says, "I think you'll find these exact same measurements in our gym back in Hickory."
 

The team chuckles; the tension in their faces slips away as they realize that despite the size of their surroundings, the court is the same as all the other basketball courts on which they've played.  Armed with this assurance, they view the arena differently.  Some still see how huge the arena is, but there is a bit more lightness to their step as they head toward the locker room to dress for practice.  One of the team members even pauses to shout, "Hickory!" and listen to his voice echo throughout the building.  It is only then that Coach Dale turns to his assistant to whisper, "It is big."  Besides being one of my favorite scenes in the movie, this scene serves as a reminder to me the importance of having a leader who can dispel fear and doubt and help his team face the unknown with confidence.  To me, this epitomizes the role of a prophet.

"Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7).  I don't think you can get through a Latter-day Saint discussion of prophets without having this Old Testament scripture popping up somewhere in the conversation.  It is difficult to look at the world around me and not see what Lehi saw in the beginning of his dream of the tree of life: "I beheld myself that I was in a dark and dreary waste" (1 Nephi 8:7).  Satan and his ilk would have people believe that the heavens are closed and God has no need to talk to us through prophets in this "age of enlightenment."  The adversary would have us believe all we need is our brains and our own might to help us navigate through life.  I suppose this argument might be valid if we mortals weren't constantly tripping over ourselves and each other.  If we are to believe in a God who is the same "yesterday, today, and forever, and in him there is no variableness neither shadow of changing" (Mormon 9:9), it appears logical to me that He would bless us with prophets today just as He blessed His children with prophets in earlier times.  Are we really more sophisticated now or so different from them of old when we are wont to make the same mistakes they did; just in a different setting?

Heavenly Father loves us as much as His children who came before us, and as President Dieter F. Uchtdorf taught: “Because Heavenly Father loves His children, He has not left them to walk through this mortal life without direction and guidance. . . . That is why He pleads so earnestly with us through His prophets.  Just as we want what is best for our loved ones, Heavenly Father wants what is best for us” (Ensign, March 2012, 4).  In this time of spiritual darkness, how great it is that there is someone who can come to us with a brilliant flashlight to cut through the dark and dreary waste and light the path toward the tree of life: representative of the love of God.  At a time when "all things [are] in commotion; and . . . men’s hearts . . . fail them" (D&C 88:91), how grateful I am that there are people the Lord has called to calm my fears and remind me there is a forest out there beyond the tree currently in my path.  While life is in upheaval, moral standards erode, trials threaten to sap physical and spiritual strength, the voice of the prophet is constant and calming and beckoning; reminding me that the bedrock of my faith is "the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven" (Joseph Smith, as quoted by Elder D. Todd Christofferson; Ensign, May 2012, 89).

In this video clip there is an interview with a brother from England who talks about his experience in receiving a testimony of the prophetic call of Thomas S. Monson, our current prophet.  I was reminded of a life changing experience I had a few weeks before embarking on my missionary service.  As the time approached for me to leave, my brother Aaron and I realized that we may not be seeing each other for potentially 3 1/2 years.  We wanted to do something together--a last hurrah--so we asked if we could go to Salt Lake City during Conference weekend and were given permission to do so.  We spent Saturday doing whatever caught our fancy.  This included two movies (Gung Ho and The Money Pit, if memory serves), some time in a mall arcade, and an evening at the planetarium (Hansen back then--I believe it has a different name and location now) watching the laser light show set to 70's rock and roll music (Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and others come to mind).

We found a very cheap hotel to stay in that night (our guardian angels probably worked overtime to keep us safe) and got up the next morning to shower, dress and drive over to Temple Square at what I thought was early enough to make it into the morning session of Conference.  How naïve I was.  After parking the car, we found a line that wasn't too terribly bad, as far as the amount of people in front of us was concerned, and started to wait.  After about fifteen minutes or so, I asked the family directly in front of us if we were in the line for the morning session.  The poor guy nearly fell over laughing, "No," he said. "This is the line for the afternoon session.  The morning session people just finished going inside."

It was a long wait--nearly five hours.  I have to admit there was a couple of times when either Aaron or I voiced the opinion of leaving and going home.  Each time we did, however, a greater desire to stay overtook us--probably both the Spirit and our own stubbornness ("We've stayed here this long; might as well stick it out.").  Ultimately, I'm glad we waited.  When we were finally allowed into the Tabernacle, we were sent up the stairs into the balcony seats.  If you were facing the east side of the Tabernacle, we would have been on the left hand side, about two or three rows from the bottom of the balcony, close to the podium area.  After three talks were given (Elders Ashton, Paramore and de Jager), President Gordon B. Hinckley, who was then the first counselor in the First Presidency, stood and announced to the congregation that a "solemn assembly" to formally sustain President Ezra Taft Benson would take place.

I suppose I had seen solemn assemblies take place before as my family watched Conference on TV, but this was the first time I was old enough to actually understand the process--and here I was in the building as it was taking place!  I listened and watched the proceedings, trying to understand what was happening and what was expected of me.  Before I completely grasped it, President Hinckley asked for "all ordained elders" to stand along with other Melchizedek priesthood holders.  I had recently been ordained an elder in preparation for my upcoming mission, so I stood with other brethren (it seemed like every man sitting in the first floor pews stood at this same time--an amazing sight) and raised my right arm to the square when asked if I would sustain President Benson and the other leaders who had been named.  When I did, a strong, warm, comforting feeling bloomed in my heart.  At that moment, I knew--I knew!--that Ezra Taft Benson had been called by God to lead the Church.  Aaron stood when the Aaronic priesthood holders were asked to stand and sustain the prophet.  I remember afterward asking Aaron how he felt.  I told him I felt a warmth in my heart; he said he felt "tingly" all over.

The experience was significant for me--a "touch stone" moment as I like to call them.  I used that personal experience and testimony often during my mission.  As other prophets have followed President Benson, I have felt the Spirit testify to me of their call at their respective solemn assemblies.  The confirming feeling has not come with the same amplitude as that particular day in the Tabernacle--but each time, the witness has come and I have received the same level of spiritual confirmation at those moments as I did in the Tabernacle back in April of 1986.  The Lord knows we need a leader who can take a tape measure and show us that the basketball court in a huge arena has the same dimensions we are accustomed to.  Someone whose life experiences are such that he can see the forest from the trees and give us the comfort we need as we navigate the twists and turns of life.  A voice who speaks His word and reminds us of the glorious blessings awaiting those who endure to the end.  I thank God for the prophet!  I thank God that He blesses us with a prophet in these latter days!  We are not so sophisticated a people that we do not need to know God's word concerning us as delivered to "his servants the prophets."  My hope is that I'll do all I can to heed his words and follow his counsel for as the Lord told the Church back in 1831: "whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same" (D&C 1:38).

Baptisms and Baptisms

This has been an exciting several weeks.  Months of hard work and effort by the missionaries and the member of the ward have culminated in four convert baptisms so far in March with two more scheduled for next week--six in all!  While the number itself is amazing, I don't want to appear as if I am boasting because of the number itself.  Rather, I feel much like Ammon when he replied to his brother Aaron's rebuke by proclaiming: "Behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God" (Alma 26:11).

By no means do I think our work is now completed or that we can rest from our labors, but it has been a great blessing to me to participate in seeing these people enter the waters of baptism.  As each of these brothers and sisters have come unto Christ through this essential ordinance, I have been reminded of the covenants I made with my Father in Heaven when I was 8-years-old.  I may not have totally understood those covenants at the time, but as the years have passed and my knowledge has increased, I am better acquainted with them now.  Participating in conducting these baptisms has renewed and strengthened my own baptismal covenants.  In a sense, they have become new to me.

This morning, 10-year-old Lily Clayton was baptized.  She was hesitant to come into the font with Elder Jones (the process of her making her way into the water and getting baptized took about 20 minutes--give or take), but as I watched the scene play out, I was very much reminded of my own baptism.  To keep this post relatively short (for me, anyway), I will not go into minute detail, but I will say that the idea of immersing myself completely underwater has never been high on my "to-do" list.  Like Lily, I wanted to be baptized, I just wasn't too sure about the actual methodology (although I kept this crucial piece of information to myself).  Unlike Lily who was the only baptismal candidate, I was one of around six or seven children (as I recall) being baptized in the venerable American Fork, Utah tabernacle.  When I made my . . . forceful pronouncement that I was not going to go through with the process, I became the focus of several anxious priesthood brethren, including my father, who had to really put their heads together to help this obstinate child complete this essential step to returning to Father in Heaven's presence.

To his credit, I do not recall my father ever fibbing to me by saying he would not place me under the water.  When he proposed to me that we would "practice like we had done at home" his reply to me every time I questioned his intentions ("You're not going to put me under the water!") was to calm my fears and tell me everything would be alright.  Realizing that my "trigger" was his beginning to say the baptismal prayer, once he had me in the correct position (knees bent, hands at the ready), my guess is he raised his arm to the square and silently pronounced the prayer.  I suspect the presiding brethren gave dad the okay, and, before I knew what was happening, he put me in the water and pulled me out in one fluid motion.  To this day, I am amazed at my dad's restraint from really "laying on hands" when I looked up at him with water dripping off my face and said, "That wasn't so bad." :)

Ah, memories.  Next week Lily's mom, Amanda, and another sister, Marie, will be baptized to complete this amazing month.  However, the title of my post indicates "and Baptisms."  My reason for the seeming redundancy is that later on in this afternoon, a group of our recently baptized converts and a few additional ward members made the trip down to the Redlands Temple to participate in baptisms and confirmations for the dead.  One of the great blessings of the temple is the opportunity it offers the patron to experience King Benjamin's definition of service in a unique way (see Mosiah 2:17).  On a very small scale, we are given the chance to do what Jesus did for all of us.  Through the Atonement, our Elder Brother stood as a proxy for each of us and did something for us that cannot do for ourselves; He overcame physical and spiritual death.  In the temple, we have the opportunity to stand as a proxy for someone who has not received the essential ordinances of salvation and receive those ordinances in their behalf.  We believe that the person for whom this work is done has the agency to accept or reject the work done in their behalf, but the most important thing is that the work is completed so they can make that choice.

In the same way participating in the baptismal services have renewing my own memories of my baptism and reminded me of the covenants I have made, going to the temple with this group renewed in me the wonder and spiritual power of the temple and the blessings it offers to those who serve within its walls.  I am grateful that we were able to put this trip together and look forward to next quarter when we will plan another such trip.

Ben's Challenge Has a Name: Hyper-Mobility Syndrome

Back in October I wrote a post about adversity and discussed Ben's situation.  Here we are in March and we've received some news that warrants an updated post.  When I consider how things were back in October and compare them to today, I can say that Ben has showed improvement but it's been slow with occasional set-backs.  With a recent visit to his pediatrician and appointment this morning with the orthopedic doctor, we now have an official diagnosis of his problem: hyper-mobility syndrome.

I'm not sure if this diagnosis is the absolute root of every problem he is experiencing, but, at least we now have a better idea of what Ben is dealing with.  In a nutshell, those with this syndrome have “joints that easily move beyond the normal range expected for a particular joint” (quoted from this website).  We began to suspect something more that just the problems with his back was going on when Ben started complaining about his left knee.  He was walking to class at school when this knee suddenly gave out on him and it's been gimpy ever since.  At today's visit with the orthopedic doctor, Ben and Jennifer mentioned the knee situation.  The doctor took a look at it.  Jennifer told me (and Ben confirmed) how the doctor was manipulating the knee and it was moving in ways that it normally shouldn’t have.

 

A rheumatologist Ben visited several months ago stated that Ben also might have another syndrome called Marfan, but the other two doctors have said they don’t believe this is the case, so I’m inclined to go with the “mouth of two or three witnesses” (2 Corinthians 13:1).  I guess Ben will be having a follow-up appointment with the rheumatologist in May.  It may be interesting to see what he thinks about the knee situation.  The orthopedic doctor has ordered some therapy sessions for Ben and we are hoping the therapist can teach him some stretches and exercises which will strengthen his muscles and help him overcome the pain he has been experiencing.  Ben wants to stay close to football (and to be involved with Isaac as he plays next school year) by working as a student coach’s assistant.  He will have an opportunity to try operating in this capacity during the week of spring practices, but it will be difficult for him to do this if his body keeps betraying him like this.

More than football is Ben's goal of going on a mission when he graduates from high school.  If he continues to have physical ailments, it may be difficult for him to do so.  We continue to pray for him and to have faith that he will be able to overcome the difficulties he is presently experiencing.  I am grateful for the prayers that have been offered for him by others.

The Fall of Adam and Eve (Lesson 6)

My last lesson post dealt with agency and the freedom to choose.  Now, we come to one of the most pivotal choices ever made.  With the Father’s plan of happiness in place and Lucifer’s rebellion stopped, the time for discussion ended as the plan was put into motion.  Because our Elder Brother, had been chosen to move God’s work forward, He was given the opportunity to create this earth.  In keeping with the proposed plan, He chose a site and declared, “We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell” (Abraham 3:24).  Under the direction of Father, Jesus laid the "foundations of the earth” and we “the sons [and daughters] of God shouted for joy" (Job 38:4, 7).

I am reminded of the time when our home and the Redlands Temple were being built almost simultaneously.  We would travel to both sites, usually alternating weekends, to see the progress being made and to take pictures.  When the framework went up on our house, it was fun to actually have a visual and tactile way to show Ben and Isaac which room would be their bedroom.  We could also picture where items would go in the living room and kitchen and so on.  With the temple, it was great to see the building rise from the ground and to describe to the boys what the different rooms where and why they were important.  On one Saturday visit to the temple construction site, Ben and Isaac were given strips of granite that had been cut off the larger pieces being fitted to the outside walls.  Those have become keepsakes.  To have a physical representation of our house and the temple instead of just looking at artist’s renderings or floor plans or pictures focused our excitement.  During the creation, I believe we felt much the same way as we watched the earth go through its different stages of development.  Actually seeing the plan executed increased our anticipation.  Six creative days culminated when God “created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” and pronounced His work to be “very good” (Genesis 1:27, 31).

The first commandment Father gave to “the man and his wife” was to “be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth” (Genesis 2:25; 1:28).  However, as Lehi taught his son Jacob, this commandment could not yet be fulfilled.  Adam and Eve could “have . . . no children” (2 Nephi 2:23) because they, the earth, and all other things on it were, as Elder Bruce R. McConkie declared, “created in a paradisiacal state—without death, without procreation, without probationary experiences” (Ensign, May 1985, 11).  Elder Dallin H. Oaks described Adam and Eve’s state as “transitional,” further clarifying that they were “no longer in the spirit world but with physical bodies not yet subject to death and not yet capable of procreation” (Ensign, Nov. 1993, 72-73).

The second commandment given to Adam and Eve was to refrain from eating the fruit of one specific tree: “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17).  For mortal life to truly begin, a change needed to take place in the paradisiacal earth and bodies of Adam and Eve.  This alteration from paradisiacal to mortal hinged upon the choice Adam and Even made concerning the forbidden tree.  According to Elder Oaks: “For reasons that have not been revealed, this transition, or ‘fall,’ could not happen without a transgression—an exercise of moral agency amounting to a willful breaking of a law (see Moses 6:59). This would be a planned offense, a formality to serve an eternal purpose. The Prophet Lehi explained that ‘if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen’ (2 Ne. 2:22), but would have remained in the same state in which he was created” (ibid, 73).
 

It is important to realize, as the second Article of Faith points out, that the Fall occurred because of Adam and Eve’s “transgression” (emphasis added).  Elder Oaks explained: “Some acts, like murder, are crimes because they are inherently wrong.  Other acts, like operating without a license, are crimes only because they are legally prohibited. Under these distinctions, the act that produced the Fall was not a sin—inherently wrong—but a transgression—wrong because it was formally prohibited” (ibid, 73).  In this instance, Father in Heaven forbidding Adam and Eve to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was the formal prohibition.  At the same time, however, in order for Adam and Eve to fulfill the first commandment to be fruitful and multiply, the second prohibition needed to be broken—the choice, however, was Adam and Eve’s to make.  I believe this is why Father made it a point to remind them of their agency: “nevertheless, thou mayest choose for thyself, for it [the tree] is given unto thee” (Moses 3:17, emphasis added).
 

It may seem strange to us that Adam and Eve would be placed in such a conundrum, but as Lehi testified: “all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things” (2 Nephi 2:24).  This dichotomy was part of Father’s plan.  I believe Adam and Eve would have eventually reached the conclusion that they needed to partake of the fruit of the tree in order to fulfill the greater commandment to multiply and replenish the earth.  The “random element” (if you will) in the drama was Satan.  Not knowing “the mind of God, . . . he sought to destroy the world” by seeking “to beguile Eve” (Moses 4:6).  To beguile means to deceive.  Dictionary.com offers one definition of deceive as “to mislead by a false appearance or statement” (link).  The scriptural account shows how Satan takes enough truth and subtly weaves a tapestry of lies around it to suit his purposes.  Elder James E. Faust taught: “Who has not heard and felt the enticings of the devil? His voice often sounds so reasonable and his message so easy to justify. It is an enticing, intriguing voice with dulcet tones. It is neither hard nor discordant. No one would listen to Satan’s voice if it sounded harsh or mean. If the devil’s voice were unpleasant, it would not entice people to listen to it” (Ensign, Nov. 1987, 34).

Even though Lucifer had his own reasons for wanting Adam and Eve to partake of the forbidden fruit, when it came to both of them individually making that choice, I don’t believe they made it lightly.  Their very innocent and childlike natures would have made breaking God’s prohibition a very difficult choice to make.  Despite Satan’s beguiling pressure, as Sister Sheri L. Dew, a former counselor in the Relief Society general presidency taught, “Eve . . . was the first to see that the fruit of the tree was good . . .  Were it not for [her], our progression would have ceased” (Ensign, Nov. 2001, 13).  I believe Eve recognized the necessity of breaking Father’s commandment concerning the tree and partook of the fruit fully understanding there would be consequences for her action.  Elder Russell M. Nelson declared: “We and all mankind are forever blessed because of Eve’s great courage and wisdom. By partaking of the fruit first, she did what needed to be done. Adam was wise enough to do likewise” (Ensign, Nov. 1993, 34).  Thus, with the fruit partaken, a fundamental change took place in the creation God had made.  In the case of Adam and Eve, Elder Nelson continued, “While I do not fully understand all the biochemistry involved, I do know that their physical bodies did change; blood began to circulate in their bodies. Adam and Eve thereby became mortal. Happily for us, they could also beget children and fulfill the purposes for which the world was created” (ibid, 34).

Early in my mission, maybe a month or two, I was doing my morning personal study in my bedroom and I opened the window because the room was feeling a bit stuffy.  Not long afterward, someone (who was either fixing a car or washing it) switched on a radio and started listening to a Christian station.  The man who was preaching was railing on Adam and Eve.  I don’t remember the words, but I do recall that he was quite angry with them for the choice they had made to partake of the fruit.  I was very surprised by his reaction.  It was as if he thought all mankind would be living blissfully in the Garden of Eden if it weren’t for the choice they made.  I had never heard someone react so negatively to our First Parents in this way.  If Adam and Eve could have had children while in the Garden, there would have been no point to offer them the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  The Fall wasn’t mearly a formality; it was a necessary choice.  Without it, there would be no reason for a Savior, or an Atonement; for as Paul declared, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22).
 

I am grateful for the choice Eve and Adam made to partake of the forbidden fruit and to face the consequences of their actions.  I’ve had plenty of times in my life when a choice I’ve made puts me in the position of facing unknown territory or sailing uncharted waters.  By making their choice, they faced a great unknown, but they were able to do so knowing they had the Savior and Father by their sides even though they had been removed from their presence.  As she came to understand the magnitude of the Savior’s grace and His gospel, Eve proclaimed: “Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient” (Moses 5:11).  May we find joy in our own journey and know that even though we will make mistakes along the way, with the help of the Savior we can overcome those mistakes and find a place with Him in the kingdom of our Father.

A Basketball Lesson from Isaac

Note:  I took some pictures at one of Isaac's games and I'm posting some of them.  They're not the best (grainy), but they're all I've got, unfortunately.

 

Friday night, I received a lesson while attending the temple.  Saturday morning it was Isaac who extended the lesson for me.  Toward the end of last year, Isaac came home with a flier for a community basketball league and we decided to enroll him in it.  Isaac waffled back and forth about it, but with his expressed desire to play high school football, we thought this would be a good opportunity to give him a taste of playing with a team as well as a chance to interact with different people and improve his interpersonal and basketball skills.  Yesterday was the seventh game of the "season" for Isaac's team (their final game is next Saturday).  They were playing a team they had already faced twice (there are four teams in the league).  Isaac's team--the Bulldogs--were beaten by this team in the first game of the season, but the Bulldogs won the second game.  I guess you could say this was the "rubber game" of the match.

 

Throughout the course of the season, as I've attended his practices and games, I've noticed several things about my youngest son: 1) he takes coaching advice well and tries his hardest to implement what is being asked of him; 2) he is good at defense (I am reminded of the scene in the movie Hoosiers when Coach Dale tells Buddy to think of his man as chewing gum ("By the end of the game, I want to know what flavor his is.") and after Buddy fouls out of the game, Coach Dale looks at him until he says: "Dentyne;" and 3) he shots the ball in a two-handed set shot style.

 

Isaac has improved every game.  When I've given him little pointers--after games or practices--he has tried to use them.  The coaches, a husband and wife team who have been the best coaches either of my sons have had in the community sports teams they've played on, have seen how hard he tries and have praised him for his defense and hustle.  In order to understand how these games are played, each 10 minute quarter is divided into two 5 minute halves.  This allows all the team member to play.  The clock is only stopped if a timeout is called.  In the first 5 minute segment, the coaches made the first tactical error I've seen all season by placing both their point guards on the floor with the first group, leaving the second group (which included Isaac) without a ball handler.  The opposing coach, sensing this, put a full court press on Isaac's group which allowed for several steals and subsequent baskets.  By the time the buzzer rang to end the second 5 minute half of the first quarter, the Bulldogs were behind by 12 points.  The tactical error was corrected for the beginning of the second quarter, but even so, the opposing team repelled any attempt at a comeback and by the end of quarter two, the deficit had increased to 13.

 

I don't know what the coaches said during the 3 minute and 30 second half time, but an inspired team appeared at the beginning of the third quarter.  They played defense harder and they attacked the basket on offense better.  Their efforts were rewarded as they slowly began to chip away at the lead.  Minute by minute the game became more and more intense as the Bulldogs worked to reel in their opponent.  By the end of the third quarter, the deficit was 7 points (if memory serves).  Isaac was part of the group sent on the court for the first half of the forth quarter.  As those 5 minutes ticked away, the Bulldogs put on a full court press of their own.  They were able to get a couple of steals and whittle the deficit down to 3.  The two teams traded a few basket until a score by the opposing team raised their lead to 5.  The Bulldogs brought the ball back to their side of the court.  As the clock wound down, the ball was passed and batted around until it landed in Isaac's hands.

 

Up to this point, Isaac had played the most aggressively I had seen him play all season.  He secured  a rebound; he made a steal; he was getting in the mix when the ball came his way; he'd even taken a shot that, unfortunately, was an air ball.  Earlier, he had been called for a technical when he twice put his hands across the out of bounds line while guarding the inbounding player--he didn't know he couldn't do that and ref didn't say anything other than make a hand motion--but he shook off the mistake quickly.  It was great to see.  When the ball landed in his hands, he found himself wide open, so he took another shot, a three pointer . . . and it swished through.  You would have thought he'd just made the winning shot.  Although the basket dropped the deficit to 2 points, the crowd erupted, and Isaac's team erupted as the first 5 minute half of the fourth quarter expired.  I nearly came to tears as I watched Isaac's teammates tell him "good shot."  He went to do a "low five" with his coach and they were both so amped they missed each other's hand.  Isaac's grin was as big and bright as the sun.  People talk about momentum in sports.  Isaac's basket deflated the opponent and gave his team a huge boost.  By the end of the game, the Bulldogs had won by 10 points--I'm not sure, but I don't think the opposing team scored another basket (possibly one, but no more).

"What is the lesson?" you may be asking.  As I mentioned, Isaac has slowly improved each week.  I have watched his coaches place him in situations to give him the best chance to succeed.  He isn't the top scorer or the flashy player; nor is his contributions likely to be found in the "box scores" at the end of the game, but with each game, he has done his best.  Sometimes, he's made mistakes--like when the man he was supposed to be guarding slipped past him to score a basket or when he got the technical for putting his hands over the out of bounds line.  For the most part, however, his small and simple efforts have helped his team and his teammates have noticed his contribution--which is why they reacted so positively when his two handed set shot swished through the net and pulled them within 2 points of their opponent.  After the game, as I ran some errands, this scene I've described became an extension of  what the sealer said to our group at the end of our temple session Friday night.  It reminded me of a quote from President Boyd K. Packer that I read when I give the temple preparation lessons: "When you come to the temple and receive your endowment, and kneel at the altar and be sealed, you can live an ordinary life and be an ordinary soul—struggling against temptation, failing and repenting, and failing again and repenting, but always determined to keep your covenants. … Then the day will come when you will receive the benediction: ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy lord’ (Matthew 25:21)" (Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled [1991], 257).

For many of us our lives are "ordinary" (no paparazzi chasing us everywhere; not one caring what we are wearing or where we are going or who we are with).  We may wonder if our small efforts--our faithfulness--makes any difference.  In those moments, however, it will help if we remember what Alma told his son, Helaman, that "by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise" (Alma 37:6).  If we endure faithful to the end, our "ordinary" lives will be worth much more than the wealthiest, most famous, or most powerful person who ever lived in mortality.  To be embraced by the Savior at the end of our earthly journey will give us much the same feeling Isaac had after he drained that shot (probably trillions of times greater).  Our smile, at that moment, will be as big and bright as the sun.  Even though our lives may have been "ordinary," we will "inherit all things" (Revelation 21:7).  I am thankful for my sons and the lessons they teach me.  I hope I will be worthy of that embrace and benediction when I stand before my Father and my Elder Brother.

A Lesson from Our Temple Trip

I had a very interesting experience yesterday evening; one that reminded me how important it is to not give in to perceived adversity and how the work of the Lord goes forward even when we think the trial at hand would stop it from continuing.  Jennifer and I had the opportunity to participate in our ward's sealing assignment at the Redlands Temple.  Most of the time when we attend the temple, we usually find ourselves in the endowment session, but it is good to do different things every once in a while.  When we heard of this assignment, we thought it would be nice to make it our monthly temple visit.

 

As it turned out, Friday was also a very wet day.  Southern California was drenched by the first significant rainstorm since last November.  I had the day off from work and awoke to sound of the wind howling outside my bedroom window.  I guess it had been raining since early in the morning because as I wandered into the kitchen and looked out the sliding door into the backyard, I noticed our barbecue had been pushed into the planter area and knocked over.  It wasn't raining when I went outside to upright it, but as I tried to find a place to shield it from the wind, the rain started again and quickly began falling hard (in the end, I rolled the barbecue against the wall and ran back into the house).  By the time Jennifer came home from her substituting job, the storm was still pretty bad.  We wondered if anyone else would be joining us.  When I volunteered us for the assignment, I hadn’t heard if anyone else had signed up also and it was too early to call the high priest's group leader.  No one had called to cancel the assignment so we got the boys a pizza, jumped in the car and off we drove.  The closer we came to the temple, the worse the rain poured.  I noticed several cars off the road (some dented and smashed in various places).  Thankfully, we arrived at the temple with about twenty minutes to spare before the appointment.

 

As we arrived and pulled into the parking lot, I didn't notice anything different about the temple.  The rain had stopped, but we hurried toward the covered area of the entryway to wait for other ward members.  Just as we reached the porch, a van pulled into the driveway and we found we were to be joined in the assignment by the Allen's and Fifita's--we were happy to find that we weren't going to be by ourselves.  As we waited for Bishop Allen to park the van and return to the group, I suddenly noticed the temple was dark--no lights shone inside or outside the building!  A woman standing nearby assured us that even though the lights were out, the temple was still in session.  "I've seen people go in and none of them have come back out," she informed us.  As if to prove the validity of her statement, the front doors opened and two temple workers (flashlights in hand) invited us into the building.  The back-up generator was working, powering the emergency lights enough for patrons to see where they were going, and several temple workers roamed the halls with flashlights.  Our recommends were checked at the front desk by flashlight and we all entered our respective dressing rooms to get dressed for the sealing assignment (I will admit to putting one of my white socks on backward in the semi-dark--the heel of the sock was in front). :)

The sealing room we used had an emergency light bright enough to illuminate the room, allowing us to see what we were doing and for the temple sealer to read the names of those for whom we sealed (either as husband and wife, or children to parents).  Sometime around 6:40 or so, near the end our assignment, the lights came on with a snap.  The transition was a bit jarring, but the room was now illuminated properly.  As our session came to an end, the temple sealer took a moment to remind us that the blessings pronounced in the sealing ceremony hinge on two words: “our faithfulness.”  He pointed out that God does not expect perfection from us (although we are commanded to be perfect); all He asks is that we remain faithful to Him and our faithfulness will help to perfect us.  As Jennifer and I talked about this unique experience on our drive home, we both commented on how special it was to serve in the temple on this particular evening.  There had been several chances for us to choose not to attend the temple because of perceived adversity.  We could have decided the weather was too bad to drive in, or our lack of knowing who else would be joining us could have been sufficient to remain home, or the power outage at the temple could have stopped us from completing our assignment.  In each case, the potential adversity was overcome and we participated in the important work of the temple.

 

As I sit here writing this post, I am struck again by the words of the sealer.  The things we do in our life here on earth will not save us in our Father's kingdom (nothing we do here could come close to accomplishing such a task), but if we remain faithful to the covenants we have made with Him, faithful to His commandments, and faithful to the example of His Only Begotten Son (our Elder Brother, Jesus Christ), we will show Him that we believe on Jesus and His Atonement and our faithfulness will allow Jesus to confidently advocate for us before His throne (see D&C 45:3-5).  How grateful I am to have Jesus as my rock; to have Him as my secure anchor to weather the storms (see Matthew 7:24-25 & Helaman 5:12).  I'm also thankful to know that no matter what the adversity may be, the work goes forward.  As the Prophet Joseph Smith wrote: "Shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren [and sisters]; and on, on to the victory" (D&C 128:22)!