Conquering Mountains

Conquering Mountains – Ward Conference January 9, 2011

In the June of my last year of undergraduate studies at BYU I was at a crossroads in my life.  There was much I needed to pray about so I determined to make it different from my day to day prayers and I put I put much thought and consideration into the place where I would pray and the preparations I would make to ready myself for it.

I had decided that a particular mountain peak several miles up the canyon behind my home would be a place where I would feel closer to Heavenly Father.  There were many things that I did not anticipate and had I known what was in store for me and how my life might be threatened I probably would have done things differently.

What I did know was that even though I wanted to fast it was not a good idea to go without water on a hike of this magnitude so I chose to drink plenty of water and I set out on my journey.  I of course told my mother where I was going and what time I expected to be home.  The hike was only 6 miles each way but what I had not anticipated was the amount of snow pack still present even with summer about to begin.

Within the first mile I had to take a slight deviation from the trail because the heavy spring run off had washed it out.  With my goal in mind and a quick detour I safely got around the problem area and was again on my way.  About 3 miles into it and about 8000 feet above sea level the snow was increasingly present in the shaded areas.  By the time I’d put 5 miles behind me I was starting to feel fatigued and began to question the wisdom of my trek. 

I’d come this far and was not about to turn back even though the last mile and the remaining 800 vertical feet would prove the most daunting and dangerous I was committed to go on.

My boots and pant legs were wet from the snow I’d already encountered but the snow this high up was crusted over making it impossible to know just how deep it was.  I felt that if I stayed on top of the crust I could make good time getting to the peak spending some time in prayer and meditation with the Lord that I wanted to and then making the return trip. 

It soon became apparent that I had underestimated this as well.  On the steeper parts I seemed to slide back one step for every two forward.  Although it was progress it was arduous and time consuming not to mention it was draining me of what little energy I had stored from meals of the previous day.

At one point I broke through the crust up to my arm pits in snow and quickly scrambled to get myself out, cutting my bare arms on the icy snow.  With the goal now in site I pressed on and found myself finally at the peak where I had intended on supplicating my Heavenly Father for guidance in my life.  Frankly at this point the only thing on my mind was to ask that my life be preserved and that I make it safely home again.  I sat down and pulled my scriptures from my pack and discovered a Tootsie Pop sucker in the bottom of the pack.  No doubt forgotten there months earlier to provide the dose of sugar that would  get me off that mountain.  I took out the camera and took a couple of haggard self portraits as thoughts of search and rescue finding me frozen there days later flooded my mind.  I then opened the scriptures and read from Enos 4^th verse. 

And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens.

With the sugar now in my blood stream I was feeling more alert and keenly aware that I needed to get home before the temperature started to drop.  I spotted a good walking stick repacked my things and headed straight down the mountain.  Using the stick as a rudder I was able to lean back and essentially ski down the steep slope that had taken me almost an hour to climb in a matter of minutes.

With a spring returned to my step I made my way home eager to see my family and have something to eat.

Had this experience been my wrestle with God?  What was I to learn from all of this.  I did not come down from the salt river range like Moses did from Sinai.  My hair was not streaked with grey (that didn’t start til I received my present calling ;o)

What I learned is that we need to always be prepared for the unexpected. 

We need to have constant nourishment in this case physically but more importantly spiritually.  What may seem a simple task may prove to be more challenging than we had anticipated but we have it within us as children of God to overcome. 

We will undoubtedly make mistakes and similar to when I broke through the crust in this world we live in we may almost be swallowed up by all that wrong in it and as we struggle to dig our way out of all we may be cut and bleed and in many cases have scars even after the healing has taken place. 

Our Heavenly Father has given us things to help us along the way.  Our friends and families are like walking sticks that will help bear us up and give us stability.

The scriptures are both a map and a compass that is we follow will lead us to eternity. 

And sometimes when we least expect it, when all seems lost, we will find just that little something extra in the bottom of our packs that will give us what we need to get us home.

Throughout that summer I hiked quite a bit and by August I took on Mount Timpanogas and made the hike with relative ease.  This only happened because I had conditioned myself over time. 

President Heber J Grant said, "That which we persist in doing becomes easy to do, not that the nature of the task has changed, but that our capacity to do has increased."

This is true of all the mountains we must face in our lives and I promise each of you that you will conquer if you put yourself to the task.

I know that God Lives. 

I know that he loves us. 

I know that he wants us to make it home safely

I know that he sent his son Jesus Christ to make that possible.

In closing I share with you 2 Nephi 31:20

20Wherefore, ye must press forward with a ^asteadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of ^bhope, and a ^clove of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and ^dendure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have ^eeternal life.

 21And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the ^away; and there is ^bnone other way nor ^cname given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the ^ddoctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the ^eFather, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is ^fone God, without end. Amen.

A New Year ~ 2011

Happy 2011!  A new year has begun and it promises to be a great one.  I tried something different this year that I think I will become a tradition for me.  I made resolutions for 2011 back in October/November and I started on them back then so that when today came I would actually be well on my way.

I've been studying Japanese more to better hone my skills

I also wanted to lose weight and as it turns out I started in November and I've lost 33 pounds.  Now that the new year is underway I don't have to lose any (although I probably will) I just have to maintain what I've lost.  247 down to 214 and feeling great.

I want to be very dedicated to learning the piano very well also.  This I must start today and do my best to practice 30 minutes a day.

I will continue to read, study, and ponder the Scripture, with the kids, with Liz, and personal study.

I want to get our Elder's Quorum running smoothly with consistent PPIs and effective Home Teaching assignments.

I want to go on regular dates with Liz and improve our relationship.

I want to improve my relationship with the kids.

Strive for Heaven in 2011!

The Fire of the Covenant

When we first moved into this area we became part of the Rising Sun Branch.  It had been a branch for 20+ years.  At that time I was a branch missionary and I spent a lot of time with brother Kubesh sharing the gospel with non members and doing our best to reactivate non and less active members.

Fast forward 3 years and I've now been the Elder's Quorum President for just over a year and we are now the Bay View Ward.  We've had over 2 dozen baptisms, some of which are still active and some of which who are not.  Some who are zealously engaged in the work and some who joined for self serving purposes.  I am not here to judge, I would just like to share some of the successes that I've observed.

Leonard Evans:  3 years ago a convert of almost 30 years, receptive to visits but came to church once in a blue moon and really didn't grasp the truthfulness of what he had been a part of for all these years.  In recent months, due to diligent home teachers, missionaries, and most of all the spirit, he has been at church consistently each and every week.  He has received the Aaronic Priesthood, his Patriarchal blessing, and is just weeks away from becoming an Elder.  He is also a faithful home teacher.

The Sponenburg Family:  3 years ago we weren't sure if they were here or not.  They too were receptive to missionary visits but not seriously committed to the gospel.  In recent months, a non member daughter (Kayla) was baptized and confirmed, and yesterday called and sustained as a Primary worker.  Josh, the glue of the family has received the Aaronic Priesthood and is working toward the Melchizedek.  Yesterday he administered the Sacrament for the first time and is always engaged in the lessons by sharing his simple yet powerful testimony.  Lisa, mother of the family, anxiously engaged in seeing to her families eternal salvation, expressed that in all the time she's been a member she's never held a calling which she would like very much to do.  Brian, father of the family, has given up coffee and is working hard to give up alcohol so he too can receive the Priesthood and the blessings that come with it.  Samantha daughter and friend has lost herself in the Book of Mormon and gains a stronger testimony of it's power and truthfulness each day.

There are others that have found their way back and are becoming stalwart members of our newly formed ward.  The two examples I've sited have given me great joy, as the scriptures declare, because I've been involved with and witness to these glorious transformations.  I know the gospel of Jesus Christ is had in it's fullness within our church.  This is his church, restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith.  I know our Father in Heaven Lives, I know that Jesus Christ our Savior and Redeemer Lives.  I know the Book of Mormon is true and that we do indeed get closer to God by abiding by it's precepts.

I am so happy and grateful to be a part of the Lord's work in these the last days!

My Very Own Noel

I just got off the phone with my dear sister J'Lene.  J'Lene NOEL Olson (recently Harris).  We only spoke for a few minutes but I'm having a hard time choking back the tears even now.  Oh I'm not sad per se but I was just 14 months old when I got that Christmas package in my life.  I was dropped off to stay with the Bishop because mom was having contractions.  I don't think they planned on having a Christmas baby but they did so when they came home from the hospital I had a sister for Christmas :o)

I've known J'Lene all her life, 38 wonderful years of my 39.  She's been a tremendous sister and friend for all of it.  We shared everything growing up including my first car at college.  She did my laundry and I bought her groceries, I think I got the better end of the deal.

She's always been there and I guess that my tears are partly because I'm all the way out here on the east coast and she's still in Utah.  Married now, for which I am overjoyed for her.  All my extended family is out west but of course I have a wonderful wife and beautiful children that are my family now.

I don't know I guess I just wanted to pay tribute to my sister for a minute.  All her love and generosity over the years.  A best friend growing up.  Someone I could always rely on.  She was always so good with all of our kids and I'm so glad that she has 5 now as part of her marriage to Jonathan.

We have so many memories captured in pictures because J'Lene was ever so faithful in taking literally thousands of them.

I remember her always kinda getting short changed on the birthday thing but it's cool that she shares the day we celebrate the Savior's birth.  We never made too big of a deal out of our birthdays growing up  but they were OUR days and she had to share it and she was always a good sport about it.

We'd get a kick out of the songs that included NOEL in them and would say they were singing about here.  I even remember one song that started off "jingling,....jingling...." and we would pretend they were saying J'Lene...J'Lene... because it really sounded just like it.  On an old record player no less.  Wow have we come a long way since she and I were kids.

I will always have a special place in my hear for my very own Noel, as with all of my siblings.  Today is yours though sister.  I love you.

Return With Honor

Today is the anniversary of my return home from my mission.  I remember it was a cold rainy day in Salt Lake and we went to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights.  It was the first time I had seen them.  I remember sleeping on the floor in the hotel room that Mom & Dad had gotten.  I just used Dad's sleeping bag and I felt right at home.  I remember Laurie came to visit me she gave me a massage that felt so great after two years in the mission field.

On the drive home the following evening I was listening to a tape that some friends in Japan had made for me when I left and I overheard the tape the family was listening to and it caught my attention.  This was my introduction to The Tennis Shoes Adventure Series.  They were listening to the second book.  Gadianton's & The Silver Sword. 

Of course I soon took the opportunity to listen to both the first and the second book.  I listened to them every time I would make the drive back and forth from school at Rock Spring Western Wyoming College.  I listened to them so many times in fact that I wore them out.

The 11th book in the Series just came out and I am planning to listen to it over the holidays.  A lot of significant things have happened on December 11th but my return home is the one I always remember first.  Hard to believe it's been 18 years.