20 Things I Love About My Wife!

1.     She loves the Lord.
2.     She loves me and has always loved me no matter what!
3.     She loves our kids.
4.     She has a Hart of Gold.
5.     She has forgiven me so many times for all my stupid mistakes that I could not even try to count them.
6.     She is patient.
7.     She teaches our kids and helps them grow both mentally and physically.
8.     She is thoughtful of others (for instance while at a family reunion she did all the dishes while every one else sat around and talked).
9.     She is humble.
10. She trusts the Lord. When He asks her to do something, she does it.
11. She is willing to learn and grow.  She takes classes in her spare time to improve herself and her family.
12. She serves others.  Once when she thought no one was looking, I watched her give money to a beggar on the street. She is always willing to serve at church or anywhere else that she is asked to serve.
13. She has a wonderful sense of humor and I love the sound of her laugh
14. She is extremely smart. She speaks two languages fluently
15. She is very courageous. She left every thing and came to immigrate unknown country.
16. She is so brave.
17. She is fun!
18. She loves animals.  She is allergic to cats and dogs but she still loves to pet and play with them, even though it means having a skin irritation for days afterwards.
19. She is a great daughter to her parents.
20. She is so good with money.  She is my voice of reason whenever we go shopping. 

Ask and Ye Shall Receive

A few years back I wrote my brother a letter on getting Devine inspiration.  He was going to the Lord asking about the most important question in his life: If he should ask his girlfriend to marry him or not.  I knew he probably knew all this stuff anyways but I thought it might help him to review it anyways before the trial of his faith.  I hope this can help you, my readers in some way.

Brother,

I know right now you are seeking guidance for the Lord on your relationship and I know that this is really between you, your girlfriend, and the Lord; but I felt like it might be a good reminder of how inspiration comes.  Again I know you know this but some times it is a good thing to review what you already know.  Please open up your scriptures and read these verses for yourself:

President Joseph Fielding Smith said:

“There is no reason in the world why any soul should not know where to find the truth. If he will only humble himself and seek in the spirit of humility and faith, going to the Lord just as the Prophet Joseph Smith went to the Lord to find the truth, he will find it. There’s no doubt about it. There is no reason in the world, if men would only hearken to the whisperings of the Spirit of the Lord and seek as he would have them seek for the knowledge and understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for them not to find it—no reason, except the hardness of their hearts and their love of the world. ‘Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.’ This is my testimony, I know it is true.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, in Conference Report, Apr. 1951, p. 59.)

First, remember that revelation comes only by the Holy Ghost: D&C 8:2-3:

2 Yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart.
3 Now, behold, this is the spirit of revelation; behold, this is the spirit by which Moses brought the children of Israel through the Red Sea on dry ground.

Second, remember that you have to really, really ask: James1: 5-8:

5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

I added the last couple of verses because just like it says you really, really must want to know.  I remember once on my mission that I had a dream that our Grandpa had died, and I was not sure if this was vision or just a dream but I decided I would ask Heavenly Father if Grandpa was still alive. It was important to me enough that I had decided that I was not going to stop praying until I had an answer and sure enough after a while I knew that Grandpa was still alive and that I just had a random dream.  Enos had a similar situation where he spent an entire day and night praying until he had received an answer (Enos 1:2-4).  I am sure that Enos would have spent several days there asking until he received an answer.

So now that we discussed how to ask, how does the Lord answer prayers? D&C 6: 14-16 & 22-24:

14 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, blessed art thou for what thou hast done; for thou hast inquired of me, and behold, as often as thou hast inquired thou hast received instruction of my Spirit. If it had not been so, thou wouldst not have come to the place where thou art at this time.
15 Behold, thou knowest that thou hast inquired of me and I did enlighten thy mind; and now I tell thee these things that thou mayest know that thou hast been enlightened by the Spirit of truth;
16 Yea, I tell thee, that thou mayest know that there is none else save God that knowest thy thoughts and the intents of thy heart.

22 Verily, verily, I say unto you, if you desire a further witness, cast your mind upon the night that you cried unto me in your heart, that you might know concerning the truth of these things.
23 Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you have than from God?
24 And now, behold, you have received a witness; for if I have told you things which no man knoweth have you not received a witness?

And D&C 9:7-9:

7 Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me.
8 But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must cask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right.
9 But if it be not right you shall have no such feelings, but you shall have a stupor of thought that shall cause you to forget the thing which is wrong; therefore, you cannot write that which is sacred save it be given you from me.

Finally in D&C 11: 13-14 it says:

13 Verily, verily, I say unto you, I will impart unto you of my Spirit, which shall enlighten your mind, which shall fill your soul with joy;
14 And then shall ye know, or by this shall you know, all things whatsoever you desire of me, which are pertaining unto things of righteousness, in faith believing in me that you shall receive.

After you have received an answer it is then your responsibility to act on that answer without looking back.  It is my belief that all commands of God are of great importance and as such have just as much urgency and the direction to Lot to take his family and leave Sodom and Gomorrah and flee. 

Gen 19: 17 &26

17 …..Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.

26 ¶But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

I know we probably will not be turned into a pillar of salt for looking back for most guidance that the Lord gives but He is our Master and we know that he only wants what is best for us.  Also He knows the end from the beginning and we will never falter or fail by strictly following His commands and guidance.

I know you have a big decision to make and I hope that this long email will help you somehow in making the right decision.  My prayers are with you and I do not intend on this letter to mean that I am looking down on you or that you don’t already know all of these things.  I just hope that this might help you remember how the Lord works and also remember that it does no good to try and bargain with the Lord.  He knows what is best and it is always best to follow Him.

I love you and know you will make the right decision….whatever it may be.

Your brother

Joe

Prayer and Trees

Google Earth picture of the rough area for our land growing up, house had doubled in size since when we lived there

I lived for many of my childhood years in the country.  We had 10 acres of land in Richmond Utah that my siblings and I would run wild on.   We would build forts in the trees, go swimming in the canal behind our house.  We would take our BB guns and shoot everything that moved. The BB guns were so weak that the BBs would just bounce off the birds and the birds would just fly away.  I don't think we ever killed a bird with a BB gun.

Our House

 But it was not always fun and games, my dad loved trees and hard work.  It seemed that a week did not go by that we were not planting, transplanting, and watering trees.  Of course almost all of the land was on a dried creek bed, so it had tons and tons of rocks and gravel.   Water was scarce because our well did not produce that much water,  so we had to watch how much water we used to water the trees and used in the house or our well might run dry.  Because of these two issues we moved our garden down near the canal that ran in the back of our land.   This way we fill buckets of water to water the garden.  And there were not as many rocks.

It looked something like this.

This location had a lot of wild, non-useful trees and shrubs (which from Google Earth it looks like they have all grown back).  This meant that we had the pleasure of clearing all these trees and shrubs.  Most of it was relatively easy but there was one tree that was pretty big and was not easily moved.  My brothers said that we should just cut it down, but I wanted to dig it out because it was a nice tree and I thought we could transplant it to somewhere else.  Also if we were to cut it down we still had to deal with the stump and the roots which were in the way of the garden

Me and my Sister around 10 yrs old. 

I was little probably around 12 years old and the tree was big – by far the biggest tree that I have ever tried to dig out.  My brothers refused to help because they thought the tree was too big and that I was just wasting my time.  After a couple of hours working on digging it out, I realized that it was too much for me to do.  But I did not want to prove my brothers right so I had the idea that I would pray to have the tree moved.  I knew that God can move mountains so He can easily move this tree.  So I knelt down and start praying that the tree will be moved.  After praying for a little while, I step back expecting to see angels come down and magically move the tree.  But I soon realize that they were not going to come – at least not right then.  I decided that I should leave and that they would possibly come when I was not looking. Besides it was getting late,  so I went home for the rest of the day.

The next day I was disappointed to see that the tree was still there.   I started thinking: “God did not answer my prayer.” I had asked nicely I thought.  I was disappointed but I never did doubt that God could not move the tree.  Then the next Saturday my dad asked if I wanted help moving it.  Of course I said yes and we spent the next few hours digging out the tree.  I had a very nice time spending some one-on-one with my dad.  We talked the entire time and I really enjoyed it immensely. 

A little while later I realized that Heavenly Father had answered my prayer.  I had asked for the tree to be moved and it was moved.  He did not need to send angels down to do it.  He just sent my dad.  I might have enjoyed seeing angels come down and moving it but to be honest, I enjoyed spending the time with my dad more.  Also I had the satisfaction of moving the tree myself (with a lot of my dad's help) vice just watching it magically disappear.

My family around the time when I was 12 yrs old.  (I am the ugly boy with glasses on the right)

I know that Heavenly Father listens and answers ALL prayers.  It just might not be in the time or how we expect them to be answered but He will answer them.  I also know that He answers them in the best way for us – His children.  He loves us more that we possibly can imagine and He is standing by to bless us and help us in every way that He can.