Family

 This week of Thanksgiving has been all about family. My parents put on a fantastic day, full of excellent food and lots of family. This year has seen sadness, blessings, and miracles.

 

Earlier this year my Aunt Debbie lost her husband, David, to cancer. He was a good man and he will be missed.  My aunt Debbie is amazing. Though she's lost her love, she's still smiling and moving forward. 

 This year I was able to go through the temple. It was an amazing experience to be there with my family and friends. To feel the love and support from all those who came and to make sacred covenants with Heavenly Father is a tremendous blessing.

 

 My Uncle Pat has mesothelioma in his lungs making it very hard to breath. He also has congestive heart failure, and has had many operations. This October he contracted a virus that made it all but impossible for him to breath. He was in the hospital and family was called in to say their goodbyes. He was intubated and not expected to be taken off. Uncle Pat was sedated for several days, but he was hanging in there. They finally took him off the sedation and he was conscious enough to tell the doctors to take him off intubation. The doctors made it clear that if they did that he would die, as there was no way he would be able to get enough oxygen into his body to survive. Fast forward to Thanksgiving day, when my Uncle Pat is eating Thanksgiving dinner with us, without using an oxygen tank. What a miracle.

 

Through all the sadness, blessings, and miracles we are family and we are always here to love and support our family. That is what life is about. Family, friends, and making memories with those we love.

#bebrave4baylee

This week a brave girl went back home to Heavenly Father. I didn’t know her personally, but I know her Aunt Amy Hoaldridge Parker, and followed her battle on Facebook for the last four months. It’s a tragic story of a day of fun turning to terror and the unrelenting battle for life that followed. 

I’ve thought a lot about Baylee Brooke Hoaldridge this week. I’ve thought of the horrific struggle that she had to endure, but in every post about her condition Baylee was always positive and in good spirits. What an amazing example of faith, love, hope, kindness, benevolence, and compassion strangers around the world have for this wonderful girl.

Elder Dallin H. Oaks gave a talk in October of 2000 entitled, “The Challenge to Become”. In this talk Elder Oaks talks about the parable of the laborers in the vineyard. While reading through this tonight I found myself thinking of Baylee and her family. This put into perspective for me why some of us are only here for a short time. He says, “…an important meaning of the parable of the laborers in the vineyard, which the Savior gave to explain what the kingdom of heaven, is like. As you remember, the owner of the vineyard hired laborers at different times of the day. Some he sent into the vineyard early in the morning, others about the third hour, and others in the sixth and ninth hours. Finally, in the eleventh hour he sent others into the vineyard, promising that he would also pay them “whatsoever is right”.

At the end of the day the owner of the vineyard gave the same wage to every worker, even to those who had come in the eleventh hour. When those who had worked the entire day saw this, “they murmured against the good man of the house”. The owner did not yield but merely pointed out that he had done no one any wrong, since he had paid each man the agreed amount.

Like other parables, this one can teach several different and valuable principles. For present purposes its lesson is that the Master’s reward in the Final Judgment will not be based on how long we have labored in the vineyard. We do not obtain our heavenly reward by punching a time clock. What is essential is that our labors in the workplace of the Lord have caused us to become something. For some of us, this requires a longer time than for others. What is important in the end is what we have become by our labors. Many who come in the eleventh hour have been refined and prepared by the Lord in ways other than formal employment in the vineyard. These workers are like the prepared dry mix to which it is only necessary to “add water”—the perfecting ordinance of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. With that addition—even in the eleventh hour—these workers are in the same state of development and qualified to receive the same reward as those who have labored long in the vineyard.”

Baylee was sent in the eleventh hour. She was a choice daughter of God, having been refined and prepared by the Lord prior to her earthly experience. She needed only to come to earth to take part in perfecting ordinances and to bring her light to her family, friends, and those who will never meet her here on earth. Baylee truly became something. She became what the Father wanted her to be: brave, valiant, strong, beautiful, and full of the light and love of God. My thoughts and prayers are with her family, and I appreciate them allowing us to follow her journey. While it’s not the ending we were all praying and hoping for, it is the most beautiful ending you could imagine. Baylee is once again healthy and encircled in the arms of her Savior.

 #bebrave4baylee

Building Trust

This week I watched a short video entitled "Aspects of Building Trust". In this video Guy Kawasaki gave three points on how to build that trust. First he said, "trust people and they will trust you." That's the order, trust first and then others will trust you.

 Second, there's two types of people: Bakers and Eaters.


Eaters need to get as much of the pie as possible. Their mentality is the more pie they get the less pie you have. Eaters are all about what they can gain, whats in it for them and getting more then everyone else.


 

 

Bakers, on the other hand, see opportunities to make more pies, bigger pies, better pies! Bakers don't see what's in it for them, but what they can do for others.







Lastly, Default to YES! Guy Kawasaki says, "when you meet people you're always thinking, 'how can I help that person'?" Instead of thinking how each person can help you, turn it around and ask yourself how you can help others. That is what a successful entreprenur does. 

Inspiration

This week there have been a lot of "you can do it" "Keep going"
"stay the course" and "Do not despair".  Below are some of the quotes from what I've read this week.
 
Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great.
Behold, the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind; and the willing and obedient shall eat the good of the land of Zion in these last days. [D&C 64:33–34]


I am asking you this morning not to give up “for ye are laying the foundation of a great work.” That “great work” is you—your life, your future, the very fulfillment of your dreams. That “great work” is what, with effort and patience and God’s help, you can become. When days are difficult or problems seem unending, I plead with you to stay in the harness and keep pulling. You are entitled to “eat the good of the land of Zion in these last days,” but it will require your heart and a willing mind. It will require that you stay at your post and keep trying.  (Jeffrey R. Holland was president of Brigham Young University when this devotional address was given on 18 January 1983.)

 We are waging a war with sin, my brothers and sisters, but we need not despair. It is a war we can and will win. Our Father in Heaven has given us the tools we need in order to do so. He is at the helm. We have nothing to fear. He is the God of light. He is the God of hope. I testify that He loves us—each one. (Looking Back and Moving Forward, President Thomas S. Monson April 2008)