Update-including Education Week

Kayleen rightfully pointed out that true repentance requires a change in behavior, and I have not posted in over a month. So here is what I have been doing lately. I will try to organize this under the Major Headings, as much for me as for any readers.
General

I spent some time in Utah Valley for Education Week. I flew in on August 13 and stayed in Kennedy's basement. Saturday we went to Best Buy for a power cord for the laptop. I expected a $20 price tag. It was about 4 times that amount. And since I was spending that much, I got Matt his birthday present - but I asked Lecia first if I could. We went to a ward Luau, but ended up at Applebees for dinner. On Sunday we went to Church. I got to spend an hour in the nursary with a crying child. No, Kennedy went from toy to toy, person to person, and did not utter a peep. She was great. High priest group was much like most priesthood quorums - someone was assigned to teach just prior to the meeting. We went to Jim & Becky's for dinner and yes, Kennedy did prefer Grandpa Jim. I am okay with that. During the week I taught Kennedy how to eat Oreo cookies in the time I was not on Campus. I got to Spend Tuesday evening with Kennedy so that Matt and Lecia could go to class, and Wednesday evening so that they could go to the Temple. I flew home Friday evening.


Education Week.


On Monday I went to a series on the Life and Mission of Jesus by David Christensen. Two ideas came out of those series that I have been pondering alot. First - Eternity goes both ways. I will not try to expound on that concept much, other than after the Infinite and Eternal Atonement was completed, it was if it had always been completed - thus, the Savior was "Slain from before the foundation of the World." The second is that From the moment when Jehovah stepped forward and said "Here I am, send me." (Which is a whole 'nother topic for pondering and committment) the atonement had begun. He had to hang on, from that moment on, to not do one thing that His Father would not want, or will. When He was 11 years old and being tormented by a younger brother, He could not say or do anything that make Him less than acceptable in Father's kingdom.

Then I went back to Kennedy's and played with Kennedy.

On Tuesday I started off with a lecture series on the Law of Consecretion, Then a series on Prayer. I skipped the devotional, but went to one on teaching youth. For the rest of the week, I attended a series on the Temple during the "devotinal hour". After those classes, I inevitably went back to be with Kennedy. The week was very edifying.

The Class on the Consecretion helped me to see that consecretion, though a covenant we make in the temple, is also a process. If we are in tune with seeking God's will, He will help us move towards giving more of ourselves and giving up those things that would not be in harmony with being a Son or Daughter of the Most High.

Leadership Training

That Saturday I attended a meeting with Elder Christofferson, Elder Rasband, Elder Kerin (?) and Elder Pickard. Eighty-four Bishops and Branch Presidents attended, along with 13 Stake Presidencies. The message was not new or negative in any way. It was uplifting, but also presented in a way that each leader could take appropriate notes that he needed for his stewardship. We concentrated on the Leadership Emphasis, that has bee around for about 20 years or so. We spent some time on Helping the Elder's Quorum President, on Teaching in the Family, on Missionary work and Rescuing the less active. They also took alot of questions, and we spent some significant time talking about immigration and our approach to the controversy in Arizona. There were also so moments I would consider sacred, and will only talk about those times during appropriate conversations.

Other

The following weekend, We flew up to Provo again, this time for my 38th High School Reunion. It was good to see old friends, old flames, and to see that I am not the only one who has grown old. And yes, it was dissappointing to see that some people have not moved past High School. In that way, I have been blessed to have lived outside of Utah County since I graduated from college. I have been pushed out of my patterns of behavior that were set during HS, and have been able to grow past those habits.

Health

I finally set appointments for my back pain again. The Doctor nuked the nerves on the right side of my back on August 26, and was supposed to do the left side on Sept 9. He had marked out Sept 16 as Rosh Hashashana, but it was Sept 9. So the left side nuking has been rescheduled for Sept 16.

Summary

As of now, I am excercising 4-6 times a week on my stationary bike for 30 - 40 minutes. Life is pretty good. We don't have any further trips scheduled to my happy place until March, but we should be in Utah in January when Kennedy's sister is born. For the most part, I find joy in my calling as Bishop, but there is also a lot of heartache and pain involved. I love my Savior and will continue to offer my meager 5 loaves and 2 fishes, trusting that He will magnify and expand my offering to be sufficient for those whom I serve.

I Repent

Repentance means that one must go back and do what should have been done. So here are the pictures that should have been posted after the last trip.

First is my traveling companion, my wife and best friend. I am happy to be traveling with her through the eternities.


Mike and Tara came with us. At first, she was afraid that she would slow us down. I think I probably slowed her down, despite her cane and crutches.

Kennedy may have been too young to appreciate a week in Paradise, but she did appreciate having lots of people around.

I showed these guys once before, but they are amazing.

The scenery was wonderful, as usual.

We spent a morning at Pearl Harbor. We took the boat ride out to the Arizona Memorial.

The battleship Missouri, or "Big MO" rides at anchor here too. We did not take the tour as it would be too trying on my back and Tara's knee.

The Arizona Memorial, as seen through the tines of the the anchor of the sunken battleship.

We sent Mike, Tara, Lecia and Matt off the the Polynesian Cultural Center, and we kept Kennedy for ourselves the whole day. We had a great time together.

We hike up to a waterfall. I thought I had put Mike and Tara under the waterfall, but this picture will have to do, as it is one of my most favorite I have ever taken.

The whole group starting out on the hike to the waterfall

Lecia and Matt at the waterfall.

Yes, we did have a great time. As of this posting, we have no definite plans for return. Not that we won't go back, because we will. We just don't have it planned yet.

Little Bunny Foo Foo

Kennedy likes to sing songs. Mostly she likes others to sing while she observes.
So I taught her a new song on Thursday. In the video she doesn't laugh out loud as she did when we first taught it to her.

The Cure for Back Pain

From a social perspective, Kennedy seems to be fitting in well. She gets lots of compliments on hour cuteness. She did leave the flower in her hair for the picture, but likes to pull it out, mostly to frustrate her mother.

The days are long, and the sunsets are beautiful. For the most part we have had good times. Kennedy does seem to want her Grandpa to hold her or to walk with her, which leaves him in some level of pain most of the time. It is relaxing, but the cure for pack pain is not merely watching the sunsets.

We drove out to the north shore. The traffic was a little tense which definitally was not the cure. We were able to see a couple of large green sea turtles getting their own beach therapy. Although this was very thrilling, this also was not the cure.

We have seen some amazing areas.

We went snorkeling at hanauma Bay. The water was rough, as you can see in the video below. Still, we saw some fish we had not seen before. I was looking for some eels, and apparently one swam right below me. I was snorkeling in water that was less than 2 feet cover over the reef, and it swam between the reef and me, but I did not see me. The healing waters help, but they did not provide the cure.

We took a ride out to the USS Arizona Memorial. This was a very moving and sacred time, but it did not help my back.

This is the cure. Kennedy spent a lot of time with Grandpa, but having her lie on my tummy while I enjoyed the ambience took away the pain for a short time.

Its called ...

I messed up at work. It actually happened in March or April, but I found out yesterday afternoon. I didn't sleep well. I have enough insecurities at work anyway, without this hanging over my head. I developed some options to deal with the mistake, but the fact is it cost the company several thousand dollars in bonuses that should not have been paid. Do we take them back? Do we take it out of my pay? do we suspend me for two weeks and use those savings to pay for the unearned bonuses? Do we just let the thing go, and learn from the mistake?
I feel bad for myself ('cause I'm no longer perfect), I feel bad for the my boss, ("cause he paid money out that should have been his') and I feel bad for those around me because I am morose and hurting and in a grumpy mood.

When people come into my office and talk about this kind of stuff, I usually say something like, "Its called being mortal and human. So you're not perfect, so what? If God expected you to be perfect, he would not have provided a Savior."

It still hurts to encounter something like this.

QUESTION ==> Do the healing waters of Hawaii also heal this kind of hurt?

Birthday wishes

Today is my dad's Birthday. Happy Birthday, Dad. He passed away 16 years ago, but I think of him often and the of the lessons he taught me. I remember once walking into the house with him. He was ahead of me, but he paused, turned and said daid, "I am proud of you."

Dad was not a man of many words of that sort, so those words have stuck with me for a long time.

I hope I can continue to not shame him in any way.

Getting Older

This is a picture of me when I was just a few months older than Ben is now. The picture was taken 53 years ago.

When I returned from my mission to Germany, I attended BYU. This was taken for my BYU Picture ID. I was 1/4 inch short of 6 ft. tall. I think I weighed about 165. I had my tonsils out when I was five and knee surgery when I was eighteen, Other than that, I felt pretty healthy. I was married in 1979 to Kayleen. We lived in Boise, ID for a few years and moved to Tucson, AZ in 1986. This picture was taken shortly after I moved to Tucson. I had a "procedure" for prostitises in 1989, and had my appendix out in 1996. I still felt pretty healthy.

I went back to school in 1992, and graduated with a Master's in Organizational Magement in 1994. This is my graduation day with Phillip and Timothy. We left a few days later for Disneyland.

We did not travel at all (other than to Utah, Idaho or Disneyland) until our 25th anniversary. We traveled to Kuai to celebrate. Lecia got sick (Tianna took care of her) , but Kayleen and I enjoyed the time together. We seem to have traveled a lot since that time. I like to experience the sunsets from the beach.

Our children have grown to become respectible members of society. We have 7 wonderful grandchildren. I have good employment. I try to serve the Lord. Unfortunetly, I do not have the energy and stamina that I had when I was Ben's age, or even Mike's age. I live with chronic back pain, which is a pain. I can not do many of the things I used to enjoy doing. I still spend time and energy with my grandchildren. Maybe it helps me capture some of the exuberance of youth.

So now that Geoff has become a reality. Oh, many of you do not understand the connotation. In the movie "Men in Black II", there is a 600 ft worm named Geoff, that lives in the New York Subway. I was going to title this post "A Hemroid Named Geoff," but thought better of the title.
Kayleen still loves me. I'm not really sure why. I've lost my looks, my trim figure, my athletisim, and my hair. But she goes with me still, and we will walk together. SOmetimes I look forward to going home to see Father. But there are places in Hawaii and other tropical islands that I have not seen. I wish to spend more time with my grandchildren. I want to change a few things still in my life. Getting older is not for wimps, but we are doing what we can.

BONUS

Kayleen and I went to the ballgame last weekend. On Saturday, the Diamondbacks were losing. But I did get this Homerun on tape. We were cheering so the video is a little shaky, but it is a home run, cutting the lead to 6-3. That was the losing score.