Of Dating, Spring Snow, and Faith

 Life is a dangerous game we play.- all sorts of risks.  Although it isn't risking your life- sometimes it can feel like it in asking a girl out.  Here is part of a conversation I recently had with a girl, more or less this is what was said:

Me: So, you still dating that guy?
Her: I am taking a break from dating.
In my mind I thought "Ok, how about I talk with you in a month or so?  . . . no, that sounds lame"  then it seemed enough time had passed where it was getting awkward, so I opened my mouth and said:
Me: Ok, so how about frisbee golfing this weekend?- we have had some beautiful weather!

I have no idea where that came from, but I am glad I said it!  Now, we have something set up for tomorrow!

Except for it snowed tonight.
Really??

Faithfully Ignorant?

                A single old lantern hung from a hook above the stall.  Will anxiously watched his father as he worked with the animal in the dim light.  The young calf was not doing well; she had suffered a traumatic birth and now seemed to have stopped breathing.  In his mind Will offered a silent prayer- “God, please help our cow to live, help her to be ok.”  At that moment, the cow began to move- something had changed and she was breathing again.  Although the night passed long, she did continue to recover and became a very healthy cow.

                Many years later history repeated itself.  Will was down working with another sick cow, and his little boy stood watching him full of anxiety and worry.  Will wondered if his boy was praying as he had done so long ago.  Will also wondered why he was not praying himself.  He could see the calf really was not breathing, he could tell the heart had stopped and she was now dead.  Why was it easier to pray and ask God for these things when he knew so much less about the cows and caring for them?  Can ignorance help faith, is ignorance bliss?

                So, the story might not be the most interesting (I have heard similar, but this one I made up), but I like the question it brought up.  It is something I had wondered about before- specifically “Can ignorance help one’s faith?” 

Four-Nervous-Surgeries

At this time in my life I feel very much that I am standing betwixt paths as I have talked about before.  There are paths of schooling and careers, paths of relationships, paths of hobbies and talents, and many others.  The trouble for me is not in knowing which are good, but which are best. 

**

I had mentioned before how I had recently gotten a new knee brace.  But this past week my joy of knee braces multiplied by 4!  I actually got four knee braces unexpectedly in the mail.  I had one already for my right knee, so now all I need is three more legs to go with them!

Ok, so I am not planning on growing legs, just as I did not plan on getting four braces in the mail.  I actually only wanted one brace, that fitted.  During the Christmas break I had a meeting  with Dr. Heare, MaryAnne, and some of the others who work at the Orthopedic center at the Children’s hospital in Denver, CO.    Dr. Heare was the one who did the hip replacement I had, and also the other reconstructive surgeries on my hips and knees.  The staff up there is phenomenal.  The reason I had met with him over Christmas was not just to get the brace, but mostly to ask about advice on when I should get my knees and other hip replaced.  Predictably, the advice was the same as the last time I asked—

Blessings and a Broken Head (Literally)

Please note the "I bleed true blue" shirt he is wearing :)

Last weekend I had an unexpected surprise.  On Friday evening while we were in the middle of a lesson, my companion Elder Fallentine mentioned that my Mom was messaging him on facebook.  I was a little confused at why she was messaging him until I heard the message, that my brother was currently in the emergency room here in Provo and my Mom was asking if I would be allowed to go and give him a blessing.  I was informed he had fractured his frontal lobe, but was ok.  With that little information my imagination did begin to wander very much.  What exactly does ok mean?  And how is it ok with a broken head?  Is ok simply that he isn’t dead, or he is conscious?  Or does ok also include significant brain damage?  And at the front of my mind, I needed to find out if I would be able to go and see him and give him the priesthood blessing, which I was.

In an effort to keep ourselves focused on serving the Lord, correspondence with our family is usually limited.  Although this is not the first time I have seen my brother, (as you can read here, Teaching Experiences with Cassia) I was blessed to go and see him in the hospital and I was able to give him a priesthood blessing.   He is recovering well, and many of the worries I had have been alleviated.  While the real purpose of going to see my brother was to bless and help him, I feel I was the one who was blessed the most.

Saving the Worms or Saving the Birds?

I love the rain!  These last few weeks we have been getting a lot of rain (comparatively, Utah is a pretty dry state).  With the extra rain, there have been a lot of worms on the sidewalks.  With the extra moisture I guess it is a good time to travel; but sadly, many of them are not able to find a spot of earth before the rain stops.  The sun comes out quickly, everything is soon dry, and the worms become cooked to the sidewalk.  Not only is this very gross, but I do also have some sympathy for the worms.  In walking to the temple yesterday morning I decided maybe I could give a little charity, and save a few worms.  I did this by picking up the worms which were still moving and throwing them into the grass.  It was good at first, but very quickly it became strenuous.  It was not fun to keep bending over, and I felt gross after touching each worm.  I felt torn about leaving the worms to suffer, or alleviating my own pain.  Even though the worms were small and mostly insignificant it was difficult for me to rationalize a good reason to let them die, but I did not suffer long as I soon found a reason to stop.  I was saved later when I saw a bird tearing up a worm that was too big for it to eat all at once.  I rationalized that by saving worms I was really killing birds, I was taking away their breakfast.  In order to work for the greater good, I have stopped saving worms in order to save birds.

It struck me this morning how much this is really like the experience of many of those who fall away from the church.  It starts with joy and gladness, but as it becomes difficult it is easy to find excuses.  Unlike saving worms, the gospel is something which is good for both the worms and the birds—metaphorically speaking.  And the consequences of leaving it are more than just a gross looking sidewalk and dead worms.

The Little Tree—It Looks so Green, Yet is so Dead

I have at my desk a little tree.  It is still very green, as you can see in the picture.  I acquired it about a month or two ago.  Some of the seeds from a Maple Tree here at the MTC had sprouted early for some reason, and there were several little trees growing in the ground.  Being the middle of winter, I figured the trees wouldn’t last long, and they would soon be dead.  I had also thought it would be nice to have a plant here with me in the MTC.  How cool would it be to have a tree which I had found on my mission, and then nurtured and grown myself?  I could plant it somewhere, and then come and see it years later.  It could be a land mark for generations.  I could see it in my mind, posterity telling little wide-eyed generations of children “that is the tree which great-grandpa Spencer saved on his mission.”  I can imagine many other such things, most definitely involving a tire-swing of some kind.  But, I won’t bore you with those.  Don’t be fooled, while the tree still if very green, it is about as crispy as a twig in a furnace, completely dehydrated and certainly overcooked.  I haven’t thrown it out, yet.  I do have faith that it may yet revive.  But it made me think a little about how much life is sometimes like growing a tree.

Filling our Sails With Faith to Ride Through Stormy Seas

Believe it or not, this fearsome pirate ship on the side is something which I actually colored myself!  I actually started coloring it first . . . and then had the idea for this blog post.  I have learned being here as a missionary there needs to be balance in everything we do.  As we work, we need time with healthy recreation and sleep to revitalize ourselves, so we can again work with a renewed focus and determination.  So, to help balance the work we do, I have followed Elder Moxley’s example and I have done a little coloring.  The pirate ship in its own right represents a juxtaposition of ideals.  There is the idea of pirates, representing fear and terror juxtaposed with the Christmas spirit of hope and faith shown in the sails.  Faith and fear create a balance of opposition as two forces which work against each other.  It is on the roles of fear and faith in our lives which I wish to address my remarks today.