Maturing Into a Child.

When I read this scripture it changed my life...
11. Verily thus sayeth the lord, seek ye out the learned and the wise. For in them is the secret, for in as much as thou learnest from them, ye shall find eternal life.
It is given unto the teachers of teachers and the professors with doctorates to know the mysteries of heave. 1Paul 1:11-12
Ever since the moment I read that scripture I have tried to do just that. My mind is never satisfied, and most the time when I find an answer to a questions it only causes me to ask more questions. I used to try and study the scriptures and pray to my heavenly father, but now I just ask smart people what they think.
For example... if the atonement is infinite and eternal, and it is, then does that mean the people on the other worlds, past present or future, are reading in there scriptures about earth where the savior Jesus Christ was born atoned for their sins? Well I have never found anyone smart enough to answer that question for me.
I have found the answers to some of my unanswerable questions in books that smart people wrote. When I will need to know some thing and I search and search books by people with genius reputations until I find what I am looking for.

Well for those of you that have never heard that scripture before or have been trying to look it up for the last five minutes, I made it up. It is not real. However this is how I have been acting. I have been trying to find my knowledge in all the wrong places.
What I am about to write may be perceived by those who are learned to be immature or a view taken from an uneducated position. (Those of you that do know me know that I am in fact not formally educated. But also know I am very very well informed on what ever I choose to voice an opinion about.) But let me share the scripture with you that leads me to say; no one should care if you think Im immature because this is what the Lord himself has said.
4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 18:4
As with all of my post that some may find to be controversial, I do not claim to know everything and most importantly I make no claim that I am even able to practice what I preach just the way that I preach it. All I can say is at times I am trying my best to follow my own direction. This is going to be a story of a lesson that I was taught today while running a dozer and pondering some conversations that I have had during the past couple days. I also want to point out that I really really like all the people that are involved in this story, so if any of them read it don’t get offended. Just think about the above scripture.

For the last little while we have been in an area at work where the government has required us to have a paleontologist to monitor our work. One day my dozer broke down and I had time to sit and talk to one of them while I waited for parts to arrive. Turns out not only was she a scientist but also a returned missionary. This made me wonder how she would reconcile the differences between the scriptures and science concerning the origination of the planet and humans. We had a long conversation. It is not my intent to argue with all you smart people how evolution and creation can work together. It is however my intent to share with you what I have learned about my own dealings with my God while I was discussing the subject.
The first thing that was said by her when I asked her the question was that “God has to operate within the laws of science.” This is a statement that I have heard since I was just a little kid. It is something that I have accepted for a long time. I mean really... it is something that you hear all the time. And when ever someone talks about evolution it is the first line that you hear. So the whole time we worked within that premises. The next statement is always “what, you think that the two cannot work together?” So we also worked with in that premises. (I have to admit, I am intimidated by those who are educated and also I don’t want to look like I don’t have an open mind so what I said my not have represented my full belief at the time.)
Her points were:

• There is a reason that God used evolution to accomplish his goal.

• The whole purpose of evolution was to create man as the goal.

• There is so much fossil evidence of so many extinct creatures.

• Evolution stopped when Adam was finally achieved, because there was no longer a need for anything to Evolve.

• Science’s only working theory is evolution.

• In Abraham it don’t call the days of creation days, it call them “time”. So each step could have been billions of years.

And some more that I cannot remember right now.
My points were very provocative to her, most of them caused her to change what she had said to the points that I listed above. Some of them she told me she just didn’t have an answer for. We discussed the matter for awhile. I came home and talked to my wife and told her how impressed I was with this scientist, and was very interested in her way of thinking. I started to buy into her way of thinking. After a few hours I started to find peace in the matter. Then my wife said something about the conversation to my in-laws, and in unison they asked “what, you think that the two can’t work together.” I said some things I think, and my father-in-law thought it best to end of conversation.
Then today I was at work early in the morning and thinking about the subject again. As I was pondering the matter (pondering is said to be one of the truest forms of prayer), a thought came to my mind. “I should be careful of the things I start telling God that he cannot do.” For example, “God must work within the laws of science.” This may or may not be true. Through history there have been a few people that have seen and talked with either God or Jesus Christ, and I cannot recall in one of the written account that it was relayed that the source of Gods power is his knowledge of the laws of science. I am not saying that knowledge is not one of his strong suits. But what is the source of his power? Does God have the power to create the earth and everything in it in 6 days? Or does he not have that power, and only enough power to organize it all in 4.5 billion years?
...for he rebelled against me, saying, Give me thine honor, which is my power; and also a third part of the hosts of heaven turned he away from me because of their agency;
D&C 29:36
1 And I, the Lord God, spake unto Moses, saying: That Satan, whom thou hast commanded in the name of mine Only Begotten, is the same which was from the beginning, and he came before me, saying—Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor.
Moses 4:1
When my mind had caught upon these two concepts another scripture sunk into my head. I couldn’t quite quote it just right then, but I remembered enough to find it on my Ipod touch. Something about “having a form or godliness but denying the power there of”? So I looked it up. When you read these verses you might notice that I have them mixed up a bit. This is a pet peeve of mine because people always do this kinda thing to make the bible mean what they want it to mean at that very moment. And if it weren’t for two things I would not do this myself right now. ONE, this is how they came to my mind while pondering, I think I might have been guided in that direction. TWO, I have read the whole chapter and the one before and after and I don’t think that it changes the context of the verses at all.
This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, [and] proud... Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth... Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away... But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them.
2 Timothy 3:1-14
Knowing of whom thou hast learned them.... For far too long I have been learning of men. Trusting in things of science. I have been looking for answers in the writings of uninspired but well meaning people. I have been trusting the words of those who,well; honestly I trust. But that has lead me to try and force MY GOD into a box. Supposedly I am a man of faith, but have been trying to justify my faith through the learning of fallible man. A person that is faithful should be trying filter the learning of man though the truth of faith. Not trying to filter what is already true to fit some idea that makes sense to our minds right now and will be proved wrong later.
I just looked this up. Did you know there are 18 actual LAWS of physical science? Every other thing that a scientist says is just the best knowledge that we have at this point. Do you know how the scientific method works? One comes up with an idea and then try’s to prove it wrong. If they can prove it wrong then they change the idea and start over. The proponents of evolution do it the opposite way. They have the idea of evolution and thousands of ways to prove it wrong, but they are working tirelessly to try and make the damning evidence fit their bad idea.
I have come to an understanding of where I think the lines of Gods power and evolution cross. I feel good about it. But what I feel better about is from now on I will not question the ability of my GOD. He is omnipotent. He is omnipresent. He is omniscient.
My paleo friend made mention that in Abraham it refers to the creation as just time periods, and not days. There is one other way to interrupt the phrasing.
13 And it came to pass that they numbered the days; from the evening until the morning they called night; and it came to pass, from the morning until the evening they called day; and it was the third time.
Abraham 4:13
Now that I am seeing things differently I think this is even clearer than in genesis. In Genesis when it said days, one could say that is by the time reckoning of Kolob’s time. 1day = 1000 years. But here in Abraham it is saying that on earth the sun went up and went down then came back up again for the third time. Leading up to this scripture it said the same thing except for the second and first times. After this scripture the sun came up, went down and back up again for the fourth through the seventh times. Sounds to me more like God did have the power to make everything just the way it is and just as we know it in only six days and then took a well deserved brake on the seventh. I would have been way tired after all that work.
I hope I remember this lesson I was taught. I still wont tell you the way I think our existence was brought about. But you can trust me that all the rebuttals you have, I have already thought of and answered them to my satisfaction. I love my God in heaven, and pray that I can be a more faithful man. I want to trust him above all else so that I can lead my family to exhalation.

Learning from teens

Parenting.

I was teaching a class full of 14 and 15 year olds the other day and asked them a provocative question. I was not expecting such fair and wise answers, but sure enough the way the children said what they did surprised me how enlightened and unselfish they are. See we were discussing a story in the old testament about a dad and his two sons. In the story the dad was not only their father but the nations spiritual leader as well. He had been a righteous man and lead the people well. But when his two sons grew up to be spiritual men as well they weren’t so good.
The two sons only wanted to serve themselves. They were doing things like taking peoples sacrifices by force and eating them. It was also later learned that they were kinda forcing women that came to the tabernacle to lay with them. They were completely self serving men.
Their father was still their dad and the prophet. It was his job to go down and set his children right. He talked to them and told them that they were doing bad things and that was it.

We discussed some of the story in more detail and how God had reacted to these three people differently. The lesson manual had asked me to ask a question to the class on how we as parents can do a better job at raising our kids. Since I was teaching a class full of kids I decided to ask them this.
I said; lets say, if your mom and dad would listen to you, how would you teach them to be a better parent. Keep in mind that their biggest worry and priority is to make sure you turn out to be a good adult. You are at the age right now everyone says is the hardest age to have kids at. They want to help you and be your friend, but they can’t just let you be free range kids. Like in the story we just talked about God was upset with the prophet for not doing more to help his sons be righteous. So I guess the real question is what would you tell your parents to do to help you grow up to be a righteous and successful adult. I want an answer from each of you in the class.
I gave them about 2min to think about it and called on a class member.
The first answer was from a young woman. “I would tell them that when they give out a consequence to actions, make sure they follow through with it. Whether it be chores, time out, grounding, or even a reward.” This answer really surprised me. At 15 years old this child felt like she needed more structure in her life. I have been told that kids really need this kinda structure to fell like their moms and dads actually do care about them.
Next was a young man. “Instead of sitting around the house and being bored, go out and do something with us.” Which seams like an average answer. So I asked, “I remember being your age and at 14 I didn’t want to go do things with my family. So why would that be your answer? Tell me how to get a 14 or 15 year old to go out and actually have a good time with their parents. When I see other families trying this the teen seems to want to be anywhere but there.” This opened up a pretty long discussion. There was not one of them that disagreed with this answer the young man gave. The one thing they all seemed to say is that there seems to be a tension between them and their parents, even while at play. They said to not be so reactive/explosive. To just have a good time. Not worry about what time it is or how the activity is being done, and don’t try to always be the coach or the know it all. Just play like you did when you were that age. Or like you do with men or women you own age now. One explained that if they were out rough housing somewhere and dad accidentally got banged up by a silly mistake of the kid, there was heck to pay for it.
We talked awhile on this one because this is one where I struggle. My boy wants to just be with me, doing... well... nearly anything. And I have found that I am way too short fused with him. When we go riding his four-wheeler I am always trying to push him to get better. Or force him to do things he doesn’t feel ready for. I have gotten mad and yelled at him when we were just playing soccer. Or I don’t just go spend time with him when he asks. Soon enough he will be like I was and stop asking, then stop desiring at all to spend time with his dad. One of the last points that came out is the kids sometimes felt that when they are out with mom and dad that it feels like they are the duty of their parents. Not some one of mutual respect and love. When this young man said play, I think he defines the word differently then you might define it.
The next answer was from another young man. His was kinda on the same line as the last one. “I would have to say do things to prevent problems.” I think kids feel like they are always in trouble and are scared to be in the same room as mom and dad. This was a tough one to interpret what he meant. But it had to do with filling your kids life with wholesome things and not letting them have the chance to fill it with dark things that lead to problems.
The next one I was expecting. The young woman said “just talk to us.” She went on about how her friend could just sit and talk to her mom or dad and they had this warm and fuzzy relationship. “Like best friends, she can tell them anything and they don’t get all mad and stuff.” I asked her “now remember that it is a parents God given duty to be more than a friend. So how can a parent still fulfill that role and then just sit and talk to you no matter what?” This is where it got somewhat interesting.
She said “first of all let us talk”, and every single one in the class started agreeing and nodding and expanding on this point. After listening to them I can completely understand. See while I was a missionary I often complained that I would ask someone a question or answer a question they asked me, and they would immediately tune me out and start thinking of what to say next. And their response would be to either interrupt me while I was speaking or didn’t even pertain to what I said. Or they thought I was speaking in code or something and tried to find secret meaning in my words. Also with my own dad right now. I cannot have a conversation with him because he thinks he knows what I am going to say before I say it. He goes ahead and lets me speak but doesn’t hear a word I say. Im 28 years old and we still have this problem.
I shared those two things with the class and universally they said that is the exact problem they have with their parents. She went on to clarify her answer, “if you are going to talk to us let us at least get the story out before you get mad or try to fix everything. I understand its really important to you to make me a good person, and I understand you can’t be my best friend, but at least respect me enough to let me speak.” One boy jumped in and said “Its hard to talk to my mom and dad because I feel like whether its good or bad I am going to get a lecture. Kinda like they just want to get the conversation out of their way and put a fixed stamp on the file, then move on.”
I then told them when I was younger my mom asked me everyday “how was school?” I really think she wanted me to talk to her. But I came home everyday and said “fine.” and that was it. I didn’t want to talk. How do we as parents help our kids want to talk to us? You say you want that, but then when your mom or dad asks you a question I bet you answer just like I did when I was your age.
The same girl said “get more specific. I hate that question too. But if you are involved enough in my life that you can ask me about something I care about, I will talk.” Again when I was a missionary, the first thing they tried to teach us in the mtc was how to ask meaningful questions. That was HARD. It was really a battle, for a whole 6 months of my time serving as a missionary, to figure out how to ask good questions. Think about this. How do you ask your kids about their day? This was another point that the whole class agreed with and give their own examples on how a parent asking better questions would help them open up.
I find already with my 5 year old he wont talk to me when I ask him “how was your day?” I get a one word answer. And then when he wants to talk I don’t feel like it.
These kids said having a good relationship with them was more than talking or playing or punishments. It’s a combinations of all things. I remember being at this troubled age, and not feeling comfortable around my family. I felt like what ever I did I was in the way, so I got out of the way and did my own thing.
It seems to me that these kids feel somewhat the same as I did. They understand that we can’t be besties, but it is our JOB not theirs to make sure we don’t make them feel the way I did back then.
This was the end of class and a couple kids didn’t get to give their answers. But I felt surprised by the maturity of their answers. You hear these answers all the time if you just take the first line of them.
-Stick to your punishments
-Play as a family
-Fill your lives with good things
-Talk to your kids
-Be their friend.
But as parents I think we feel like some of those things just don’t work with our kids, or they just don’t want to do those things. But, now I think we are just going about it wrong. I think our kids feel a tension, the same tension and frustration we feel. And that is the source for the things that divide us. It is our calling to figure out how to force those feelings to melt away. A good relationship with our children is really what we all want. And by we, I mean us and them. Trust me even though you might think your teen doesn’t want this type of thing they do. Its for sure worth the time to try, even if you don’t feel like you are good at it.

Vernal Temple

I have been busy working on a new project. I have finally gotten a product that I am pleased with, and feel comfortable selling to the public. These pictures are 16X24 inches. We had originally planned on selling them framed, but have decided there was no way to produce a quality frame for affordable prises. So we decided to sell just the prints.







this one compares the colors of the photo. The left is a sepia and the right is black and white. The one in the middle is the color of the portrait print. I call it a soft black and white.