Sunday 7-14-24

 This morning I woke up super early

And no matter what I did, I could not go back to sleep 

and we’re talking 3 or 4 in the morning maybe earlier than that

 right before the sunrise 

 I did my morning activities 

Then I tried to think of modern day miracle’s that we have

That we just think of as if it’s common every day stuff

Here is what I thought of…….

Try to think like you were back when Nephi was around

Or when Moses was around

Or anybody in the past 

further back than 300 years

If they were still alive today, 

and all they knew was where they lived and what it’s like

From their time periods 

If they were still living in that environment and they came up over any mountain that you live by and they saw this big giant city

With things flying in the air

No people walking anywhere

These weird machines driving around

These weird things  everywhere 

big buildings with smoke coming out 

Houses everywhere

But no people 

Cause they’re all inside their homes 

Or they’re only in their cars driving to work

No plants 

Trash everywhere 

Just one big cement city with very little nature in it 

Just like jail.

 In my opinion…….

If I was any of those people from the past that I mentioned

I would take one look at the city

Where we live now

Look back to where I just came from…

And do a 180 turn and go right back to where I was

I think if I saw all the amazing miracles happening

But there was nobody around to enjoy it

All these weird ( cars ) driving around

Airplanes up in the air

We as a society have just accepted it as every day life

The things we do every day

 radio 

TV

 movies 

going in outer space

 Internet 

Doctors 

Science 

Fuel

School

Work

And so on….

we just take it as every day life

But if Nephi or somebody of old

 were  to see what we have today

I think Nephi’s and everyone else mentioned…they’re jaws would drop

They would be flabbergasted at how many miracles are around

And nobody is thankful for them

In our day..

They just take it as every day life

When was the last time 

I thanked God for my telephone

That I use every day

Wouldn’t that mean that I should thank Him ( GOD ) every day for it?

I think so…….

I think He loves me so much right now

 that He is allowing me to have a phone

Even in these hard times coming up for me

He is still enabling me to have a phone

So I can write

So I can keep up this blog

( Wow, that was a really long sidetrack. Let me go back to my day I apologize. )

after my morning activities right as the sunrise was coming up, I went outside on my deck

And I just started to thank God for the amazing sunrise that I was seeing 

sunrises are such an amazing wonder to be viewed in the morning 

and it saddens me on how much I have never appreciated them 

like I am beginning to now

I have always liked to look at them in pictures 

and other places, 

but this morning it was truly beautiful when the sunrise came up 

and there was a big open part right in the middle. 

It was all white inside and all around it, 

and it had softer shade of white around it and then a little dark cloud here on either side

  and very dark all around with  small Bursts  of light peeking around the dark clouds near the Bottom and it was gorgeous absolutely gorgeous,

 and I thanked God for allowing me to be awake for it.

I then prepared to go to church because I noticed that I was watching the clouds way longer than I thought I was 

as I was talking back-and-forth to my Heavenly Father and I decided to drive a different way to church today. 

I don’t know why I just did, 

and as I was pulling in, I saw my great brother who shows up without a tie, 

and he was just waiting for me with his window down.

I proceeded to park normally where I do, and then I backed into the stall right next to him so I could talk to him

He had a very raspy voice, 

and he told me that he was under the weather and he was not feeling well. 

I then told him I’m gonna go around and see if the doors are open and I will let him in if he needs to be.

And then I reached in my car and grabbed two of my homeless, really soft, granola bars that are oat and Honey

To hopefully help with his throat

I then shut my door and locked it and I said here this might help you 

and I threw the two granola bars into his truck right next to his elbow

And he said wow thank you, but I only want one here take one back 

and he tried to offer it back to me 

and I said do me a favor. 

I don’t want it back, 

but anyone that you feel inspired to give it to just give it to them 

and then I walked away 

and I went and opened up the building from the Westside. 

The church is only open on that side in the morning on Sunday mornings, 

and the east side is never open until it gets open by whoever

So I have learned that if the side of the building is not open,

 all I need to do is walk around to the other side 

walk through the chapel open up those doors so people can come in 

on the eastside and then start Turning on all the lights in the chapel, and then setting up the chairs

So I opened up the doors this morning, 

and my brother was still in his truck waiting to see if I was going to open the doors or not

 and there was a rock right next to the door 

and I unlocked both doors and I felt inspired to prop open the door. I don’t know why I just did and I walked away,

I then went over to where I sit for my back 

so I can stand up when I need to or lay back when I need to 

and with my eyes getting bad so I can see the speaker

So I sat down my scriptures on the bench and then I set down my suit coat jacket 

because it’s really hot even at this time at 8 o’clock in the morning

And as I walked out into the hallway,  I noticed somebody was reading scriptures on a chair

And he was still sitting there earlier, when I walked in the doors to open  the building myself 

and let everyone have access

So, my brother who is feeling awful and who has a bad back himself 

We  are getting the chairs set up just me and him for about 10 minutes 

And I was wondering why nobody had shown up yet, but I kept working

And I felt inspired to go out in the hallway, and that guy was still sitting in the chair 

just sitting there this time from what I saw

And I said, excuse me

We only have two people that are working on chairs right now and we both have back issues.

 Would it be OK if you came and helped us

We really need some help

And with no hesitation whatsoever, he set down what he was doing, and he said absolutely

He said I am from the second ward.

 I am grateful to meet you. 

How can I help?

And he immediately followed me back and helped and he stayed there the whole time

Till we were done

I am so grateful for my brother’s example. 

He was doing something on that chair

In the hallway I’m not sure what it was.

But when he heard that somebody needed help

 he put off what he was doing and he came and helped those who were asking for help

I thought about this the whole time as he was setting up chairs

As he was talking to somebody else, he told them that he had a meeting at 8:30

So he had shown up early to go to a meeting

And I might have interrupted him. 

I don’t know what he was thinking or what he was doing, 

but I felt like with my brother being sick and with his back hurting 

and with my pain issues I felt like I /we needed help 

I felt like it was the right thing to do

I am so grateful for my dear brother from the second ward 

Who showed me what Christ would’ve done 

if that was Him ( Christ ) in that chair 

He would’ve got up instantly no matter what He was doing and would have helped

I am so grateful for the perfect example that he showed me 

about what Christ would have done today

I went over to my dear brother, and I said I’ve got a really bad back.

 Let me show you how I do the chairs if you want 

so you don’t have to bend over and hurt yourself so much.

The brother that I asked from the second ward was older than me, but younger than the tie-less brother…….

His willingness to serve, 

even though he had a meeting,

 even though he might’ve had something on his mind 

My Brother in the chair just let it go, 

and he did what he thought was right

And I don’t know if he’ll ever read this or not but I am very thankful for my brother

I then thanked him  again for helping set up chairs

He went to his meeting, and I went to go sit on the bench

I have been studying the book of Mormon a lot lately

And for the past week or longer I’ve been studying prayer

And so I texted the missionary that helped me come back to God

And I met her in the library, and I asked her the question I had about Alma 31 and 32

And she listened

And then, as I was finishing talking to her, I looked up, and I noticed what time it was

Church was going to start in two minutes

I have a pet peeve of being late so I said I’m sorry i gotta go. I’ll see you later. Thank you for listening.

All of the talks in church were amazing I got something out of every one of them

It was fascinating

There was A young man in a white shirt and blue tie. He got up today and it sounded like he had a lot of problems and he was asking for help 

and I say that because I’ve been down that road and I recognized it.

I used to ask for help like that, and it seemed like nobody was listening

To me…

I hope somebody who is close to him…

will go help him

And some thing I don’t do during church is 

I don’t like to text 

I don’t 

it drives me crazy 

but we’ll talk about that later cause I don’t wanna do a ((( sidetrack)))

But I feel inspired to pull up my phone in church and text somebody in the ward

And tell them what I felt

And I don’t think it was my place to help the young man

As far back as I remember

I have always wanted to work with old people

One of my first happy memories is at Cove point

That is between the Orem /Provo border right on the hill

And I don’t remember who i used to visit there

And maybe the memories will come back maybe they won’t. I don’t know.

But all I remember is, I always had so much fun in that building

It seems like people who are older

Are so much wiser

 they have so much more that they can teach us

And it’s amazing some of the things that I’m learning from some of the elderly people from the ward

I look forward when I get to talk to them

They are so full of wisdom and God‘s light

And it’s the same feeling that I got from Cove point

And all my life I’ve just known that I want to work with elderly people

The other thing I’ve always known is, I have always loved all animals no matter what

I actually get really mad when I see somebody squish an ant 

Or kill a bee

Or kill a spider

Or do anything to hurt any creature?

I love animals

I love all creatures 

I know this is me 

I know it

And so what I would ask for 

if I could have a calling…

Is to work with elderly people

Or

As a service missionary

Or 

with pets in someway with animals

But ultimately, it’s not my decision

It is Gods decision, and I have to trust what he chooses for me

Because he knows me better than I know me

And I know this because of my patriarchal blessing

It is because of my patriarchal blessing that I got through my own Hell

It is because things that were said in there 

It was my patriarchal blessing

It was the power of prayer

And it was all God 

that got me through my worst days

I wish I could inspire everybody to go get a patriarchal blessing if you have not got it yet

It will tell you who you are

What you need to do

(( wow,  I have all kinds of sidetracks today. I am sorry when you read this.))

During priesthood session

The teacher was talking about his past and how he had an amazing teacher that blessed him in his life

And during the talk that he was giving, I pulled out my notepad, and I wrote something down about the amazing example he had in his life

And I handed it to him

And he just looked at me and gave me a big hug

I said something to him, and then we shook hands and we left church

After church, I decided to walk to choir practice which is being held in somebody’s house

And they had the most awesome Organ in there. I was hoping they were going to play it, but they did not.

I love the sound of a deep Organ with the bass. It’s one of my favorite sounds.

It’s so calming and relaxing to me

As I was talking to the owner of the home

The music Director came in

And I told him what I know for myself, how I sing and my levels, and what I can do

He then said OK, and he went and got on the piano, and he played one note

And then I try to mimic that note

He then played another note that was about five or six higher than the previous one to the right

And then he try to help me equal that sound

And then he went back to his original key that he had pushed and had me try to make that sound again

And then he went back to the second one that he pushed, and had me do the same thing

And then he explained to me that the note I was trying to hit the first time was the exact same note that he was hitting the second time

And then he told me to calculate what I was doing with the Notes

And then he said what I want you to do is when I hit this note, I want you to hit the sound that you’re hitting on the second note

And then he went down each note, and then back up to where he was where he started so down three notes, and then up three notes

And he kept asking me to copy what he was doing

I tried my best

He then did this for about five minutes. He was very patient with me even though I wasn’t the best and he knew it.

But I was doing my best

He then explain to me that I was a baritone

I had no idea what that was

He then handed me a hymnbook folder with the song “gethsemane”in it

And I realized I did not have my reading glasses with me

 I also realized that I did not drive, so I had to run home

And this is the furthest I have ran ever since my last back surgery in 2023

And I was amazed I was able to run the whole way. It was painful.

But I was able to do it my shoes are really painful so I took them off and ran in my socks all the way home for two blocks

I am still amazed that God has allowed me to walk

Just like the Lame man in the song 

“ I heard him come”

I then grabbed my glasses, got in my van and decided to drive back over there cause I did not wanna run back be out of breath and then try to sing

It just didn’t sound like it was a good thing or a smart thing to do so I drove back over there

Sat down and listened to what was going on

He then began to explain who was singing,

 he mentioned soprano, 

he mentioned alto 

he mentioned tenor,

 and he mentioned bass

And he kept telling everybody where they were

And I kept waiting for him to tell me when I was going to sing because he told me I was a baritone

 And I trusted him

And he went throughout the whole song, and he never mentioned where baritone was

So I raise my hand and said, excuse me, you never mention baritone

 where do I sing?

He looked at me like I was stupid not in a mean way

But I had just gotten done singing with him on the piano

Kind of knowing what I’m doing

Because I was taught by my mom

And then I got this weird look like you just sang with me 

but you don’t know what a baritone or a bass is or the difference

 And in my heart that hurt

But I kept trying to sing what he told me I was because 

he has more knowledge than I do and he heard me sing, so I have to trust him

But my feelings were still hurt

I don’t know why, but with my learning disability

Because of my head injury from my “childhood”

The way that my mom taught me what’s to sing melody

Because that’s what she did

That’s what she taught herself

And so that’s what she taught me

 And I’ve only read the words and looked up to sing the notes

I have the hardest time, reading the notes of the men’s part, because I was never taught that

And so all throughout the song I kept with my eyes jumping up and i started to sing the melody because that is what I am, so used to doing

And I was getting really frustrated with myself that I was not able to sing like the teacher wanted me to 

So, after choir practice, I asked the piano player

If she would play just the bass part so I could get to know the song and the cords that I need to learn. 

I asked her.

If I could hit record in my phone, so I could get to know the bass notes

So I can learn and get away from my uncomfortableness

Maybe God wants me to learn how to sing as a baritone

And I just need to let go of who I think I know I am 

and trust in God 

He knows who I am

So I apologize have per having those feelings toward the music Director he was just doing what he thought was right

It is amazing to me how easily my feelings get hurt

And things that I think I know better

But I am so grateful for prayer because I am learning how to recognize confusion

And when I recognize confusion, I know that something is going on that’s not right in my life

And that is when I need to pray to God, all the more to figure out why I am feeling confused

And I asked for His help to explain

In the best way for me to learn

As God knows how to talk to me

In my own special way, 

that I can only learn from Him

When I recognize his peace

His Love

I am so grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost and the peace that I feel now

Since I got baptized

After church, I went out into my side yard and prayed

And played disc golf by myself

And as I was throwing, I was trying to think of all the many different ways I could analyze disc golf 

Into the gospel

after I threw all the discs 

I began to see little weeds coming up in the grass

And I decided like life I was going to pull out all the bad weeds and leave all the good ones that you can use for the nourishment later in life

In he grass

So as I was praying and trying to think about God and everything in church today

I walked almost the whole yard, which is pretty big

And I pulled out every one of those weeds that were coming out of the grass all the way down to the room and I pulled them out so I wouldn’t have to deal with them in the grass anymore

In my mind just kept staying focused on God and prayer and the song in choir and everything else that was going on today

I am so grateful I noticed the confusion right away, and that I didn’t have to dwell on it very long…….

::David::

7-14-24

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