Just an Observation

I think it is interesting that if someone trains dogs to fight, that trainer must be very secretive about what he is doing. If the law finds out, that person is subject to heavy fines and can be put into prison for several years.

On the other hand, if someone trains humans to fight, that trainer can advertise the fight on the radio, television and anywhere else he wants, and even sale tickets to the fights. He can make a fortune and continue training people to fight, without fearing the law.

Are we no better than dogs?

I’m just saying…

Isaiah 28:21 -- Strange?

Isaiah 28:21
For the Lord (in the last days) shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he (the Lord) shall be wroth (angry) as in the valley of Gibeon, that he (the Lord) may do his work, his strange work; (Temple work) and bring to pass his act, his strange act. (The restoration of the gospel)

Isn’t Mormonism strange? Aren’t the restoration and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon strange? Isn’t it strange that God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ would show themselves to a 14 year old boy by the name of Joseph Smith, in the spring of 1820? He didn’t even belong to a church!

Isn’t it strange that that same boy would latter claim to have been visited by an Angel named Moroni, in Joseph’s own bedroom at the age of 17? The Angel Moroni told Joseph that in Moroni’s life, he was a prophet to a group of people who lived on the American Continent and that his people worshiped and saw Christ after Christ’s resurrection. Moroni told Joseph he had a record of some of God’s people, and that it covered more than 2,000 thousand years. Isn’t that strange?

Isn’t it strange that Moroni waited 4 years, until Joseph was 21, before he gave that record to Joseph? Isn’t it strange that Moroni’s record was written on gold plates, in a language that no one knew? Why would the angel Moroni give that record to Joseph, who had no formal education and tell him to translate it?

Isn’t it strange the way Joseph tells us how he translated this record, with a breastplate and something called the Urim and Thummim? That he read, translated and dictated it to someone who was required to stand on the other side of a curtain who wrote it all down as Joseph dictated it seems strange. Isn’t it strange that the Book of Mormon has sold more copies in this world than any other book except the Bible? Who would believe all that? I do!

Talk about strange acts, isn’t it strange that Joseph Smith says he saw John the Baptist on May 15th, 1829, and that John gave him keys and restored the Aaronic Priesthood to the world? Shortly thereafter, Joseph claims that Peter, James and John the Beloved, restored the Melchizedek Priesthood and gave him move keys, so Joseph could confer the priesthood on others. How strange is that?

Joseph also said the Lord commanded him to build a temple, which he and his believers did build in Kirtland, Ohio. Joseph says on April 3rd, 1836, while he and his friend, Oliver Cowdery, were in that temple they were visited by Jesus Christ, Moses, Elias, and Elijah, giving them more keys and the “Fullness of the Priesthood”. Isn’t that strange? Do you believe all that? I do.

Isn’t the one-piece garment strange, not to mention the long legged and long armed ones? Isn’t Temple work strange? People go into the temple to worship God and do ordinances for themselves and for their kindred dead. Isn’t that strange?

The world wonders what Mormons do in the temple. People going into the temple have their suitcases and you might think they are going to be staying overnight, but before long you see them come out of the temple with the same suitcase. Isn’t that strange? Some surmise that the suitcase is used to carry out their endowment! Isn’t Mormonism strange? Who believes all that? I do! And I testify to the world that it is all true!

Fathers Day and Family

I talked to Jared and Liz on Thursday night, and of course, we talked about Mom. I told Jared how I struggle seeing Mom in such a sad and depressed state. I need to figure out the lesson I am suppose to learn from this experience with Mom right now. Jared is wise beyond his years. He said he thought the lesson might not have to do so much with what Mom need to learn, but with what we have to learn by to seeing Mom this way. There is some eternal principle we need to learn that will help us when become gods.

What am I learning from this stage of Mom’s life? Compassion, charity and love, just as the Savior died for us, He suffered not only for all our sins, but so that He could feel the anguish, sadness, helplessness and discouragement that we will all face in this life. Our Savior grew in experience and compassion by having felt those feelings that we all have while he was living and while he was in the garden. Now I need to share those experiences and feelings that Mom is going through. I hope to learn them now so I won’t need to experience them first hand latter in my life. Thank you Jared and Liz!

(Saturday, June 20th) Tomorrow is Father’s Day. My earthly Father passed away this year on February 24, so I won’t be able to see him for Father’s Day. That makes me sad. I do miss him! Even though I can’t see him, I decided to go to his grave site and talk to him today, because I will be going to Price on Fathers Day to see the love of my life, DeAnne. She has been gone since Wednesday night and I really miss talking to her, seeing her, touching her and holding her.

I took Dad some beautiful flowers from his own yard. His yard is looking very nice this year. I spent about a half hour talking to him and asking him for help. What does he want me to do for Mom? Am I doing the things he wants me to do with his finances? Is he pleased with the things we are doing to take care of Mom? I have often asked my Heavenly Father those same questions. I thought today, “Isn’t it great to be able to talk to both my Heavenly Father and my earthly Father? I know they both hear me.

I felt both of them there at the gravesite and something very special happen to me while I was there. I felt there love, I felt their arms around me and I felt warm inside. What a great feeling! I felt that they were happy with the things I was doing for Mom and the way I was handling Mom and Dad’s finances.

I was reminded that people are more important than money and earthly things, and that the finances were now done and I need to spend less time on finances transfer that time instead to visiting Mom.

Dad told me to go visit Mom and tell her that I had talked to him. So I went from the gravesite directly to visit Mom. She was asleep when I got there. As I entered her room she woke up and we had a good talk. I told her I had been to the gravesite and talked to Dad. Mom and I had a good talk about earthly things and heavenly things. I hope her spirits were lifted by my visit. I enjoyed it.

Lesson to be learned: Talk to your parents and children while you can see them. And while you have them enjoy them and the things they do. Do things together! I have found a new love all my family!

I am starting to write my History!

I am starting to write my History! or Memoirs! Ok, I am now 60 years old, and I am going to try to write my history and few of my memories as best as I can recall them. I know I should have started sooner but I have several good excuses.

1.) There was no way I could write before I went to school.

2). I was way too active and loved being outside exploring and listening to nature.

3.) God, I’m sure, understands. After all, He was like me once. I got these traits from Him as part of my genetics! Besides that, God sent me to this world and gave me to an earthly Mother and Father who taught me to love nature and keep busy.

4.) After I learned to read and write, there was no way I was going to be caught wasting time, writing things down, that I had already done! I could be out making more things happen and enjoying them! My grandson, Carter Bradley Owens, will understand how I feel! (Notice the middle name…the genetic traits has been passed on to him, not only from me but from Tiffanie and Mike, especially Mike. Good luck Tiff and Mike.)

5.) The best excuse I can come up with is that I had to wait until the computer was invented so I could insert things in my history as I remembered them. No way was I going to start over every time I remembered something else, which is what I kept thinking I would have to do if I wrote with a pen or pencil or used a typewriter. I’m sure God let the computer be invented just so busy little boys wouldn’t need to write their history until they became slow old men. God has given me a great job, where I am locked up in an office with time on my hands. Because I am so smart and experienced, I get my job done faster than the younger inexperienced workers. (Please don’t believe that last sentence of my history!)

My employer won’t let me go home, but would rather pay me to stay in the office; just in case a customer needs to be trained on their software and I can’t afford to take the time off. So, I have some time to write my history as time allows and as memories pop into my head. God, being omnipotent, knew all this would happen. He being omnipotent, had the power to make it happen so I could get caught up on this history thing. I love God! He is my Dad! He understands me. And He loves me!

Seriously, it would really suck to be confined to a computer cubical, writing my history in the hereafter, while Christ is organizing His kingdom on earth during the Millennium. I want to be with Him and my family and help him do all that. I want us, as husband and wife and as a family, with vibrant new bodies, to be together discovering all the new places, planets, new scenery, new animals, visitor sites, new technology and new powers in the new Celestial world together. It would, literally be hell to be stuck in an office without windows typing up my history! I would rather do that now as an old man with a worn out body. Thank you Father for providing me a way to get it done now!

So Cool...

We finally have some cool air coming into our Condo. Last Friday, Jared and his friend got a crane and put the new swamp cooler on the roof. Three stories up. Jared and Greg worked for over 6 hours getting it all setup. They had to do a lot of customization to make it fit. We found out there was no water line connection even available for us to connect to. I got to meet the young man on the third floor, (know by Garrett as, “The Rock Star”). I had to climb the stairs three times to ask him to turn the water line on and off so Jared and Greg could install a new water line connection to our new swamp cooler. Three times up to the third floor and this 60 year old man was worn out. Madeline, on the other hand wanted to keep climbing the stairs time and time again. I’m getting old!

Jared and Liz took a video of Jared and Greg tossing the old Swampy off the roof. It was so rusted out it hardly had a leg to stand on. At least two of the legs had been equipped with plastic cup “reinforcements”. Totally amazing!

Anyway, thanks to Jared and Greg we started getting cool air into our condo late on Friday night. I have slept better the last three nights than I have in a long time. I slept for 6 hours straight last night, (Sunday night) which breaks the record I set back in 1889. As an old timer, I remember it well! Thank you Jared!

DeAnne has started wearing her sweaters by day… and her flannel PJ’s and extra blankets by night. (Not really, just joking, but she’s not so convinced of the global warming thing any more!

Now tonight, when I get home, I will get the bill. That won’t feel so good! But we are happy for the cool air.

P.S. Thanks to you who have visited Mom!

P.P.S. We need to have a garage sale to empty out our storage unit sometime in June. Is anybody else interested?

Grandma Ward

Just an update for our family.

For those of you who have not heard, Grandma Ward fell down in her kitchen last Saturday morning , May 23rd, and broke her wrist. DeAnne and I spent all day Saturday with here at the hospital. We appreciated Jared coming to her home and getting her swamp cooler up and running for the season, especially since he had his life flash before his eyes with an unexpected scare on the roof and ladder. Thanks Jared! We really, really appreciated you doing that for your Grandmother!

Mom spent all of Saturday in the Pioneer Valley Hospital and then she was moved to the Jordan Valley Hospital Saturday evening. She was thankful for those who visited her while she was there. Madeline, Jared, Liz and Bradley brought her some cheery yellow flowers while she was there. Mom said yellow was her favorite color.

Without the use of her left arm, she is not able to get up or down without assistance, and she cannot control the walker with one hand. We felt the best thing to do would be to send her to a rehab center where they could try to strengthen her arm and legs. We hope she will eat well, do her physical therapy on her arm and legs and get to a point where she can get up and down by herself and be able to walk again.

We moved her to Legacy Rehab center yesterday, (Tuesday). It was one of the hardest things I have had to do in my life! She is confused and not very happy right now.

We have tried to spend as much time with her as we possibly could. She really likes to have people visit her and keep her company. She will talk to you almost non-stop. Jared and Liz and family visited her on Tuesday night.

We, along with Mom, would appreciate it very much if any of you could find time to visit her as often as you can. She will be there until her arm heals, which we think will be two or three months. At any rate, she will be there until she can walk by herself and get up and down by herself. There is also the possibility that she may not live that long. So please visit her as often as you can. DeAnne and I will be going to Cedar City and Bryce Canyon for our Anniversary. We need to get away for a few days! We will have the cell phone with us.

We will need someone to check on the cat, just once while we are gone. Any volunteers?

Mom has a private room at Legacy Rehab Center, which is located on the north side of 90th south, less than a block west of the Bangerter Highway. It is straight west of the Jordan Valley Hospital.

We are relieved that Garrett is on the mend and that he no longer has the tube in his side.

We love you all and hope you and your families are all doing well!

Peace

Last week at class, Brother Christiansen made a brief statement and then hurried on to other topics. His statement really struck me hard and made me think.

It reminded me of the episode of M.A.S.H., when Hawkeye said, “War isn’t Hell. War is War and Hell is Hell. War is worse than Hell because unlike war, all those who are in Hell made a choice to be there.” Most of those who find themselves in war had no choice.

But I digress. What Brother Christensen said was, “When the world speaks of peace they mean a world without war. When the Latter Day Saints speak of peace we mean a time and place where we can be with God.” I have pondered and thought a lot about that statement and wanted to write down my thoughts before I forget them. Where do I find peace and rest?

Peace is a time and place where I am protected from the devil, hsi angels and his worldly influences. There is an hour of peace and rest when I pray. (Reminds me of the song.) I find peace and rest when I go to church, partake of the sacrament and worship God. I find Peace and rest when I go to the Temple, and when I do enjoyable things with my family. When I visit a new born baby, the elderly, and the sick or take care of the poor.

I find peace and rest when I go to the mountains, ocean, lakes, streams, or places where I am not bombarded with the enticements of Satan. Where there are no magazine racks full of partially clothed people. Where there is love toward people instead of hate, envy or greed. Where Hollywood can't force their values upon me. Where sport figures are not promoting products that are bad for my body and spirit, and where corrupt politicians and corporate executives cannot control my thoughts and my time.

When God rested on the seventh day, I think His rest was being with his children and teaching us about "Things as the really are" in the eternities. I think He talked to us about who we really are. He gave us a Fathers's blessing before we came to this earth. He taught us about spiritual and eternal things. What a sacrament meeting that would have been!

I need to take more time to find and go to more places where I can find peace and rest! Places where I can be close to my Heavenly Father and get to know Him better.

That’s the way I see it.