Another Day in Paradise

Cancun

2009-04-30T14:38:00.000-07:00

Our son-in-law Jason graduated from BYU this month. We were hoping that they would move closer to us, but we were concerned that Melody might give up her job at Jet Blue. So we took advantage of our flying privileges and took a vacation to Cancun. We didn't know about the swine flu at the time. We stayed at a beautiful resort and I ate like a pig, but we didn't get the flu.

We fulfilled one of Nancy's lifelong dreams and swam with dolphins. We went snorkeling, visited Mayan ruins, ran zip lines, swam in cenotes and did some mountain biking. Pretty impressive for two grandparents. We had a wonderful time and came back in one piece.

After our most recent trip to Palmyra, I realized how remote and rural the area must have been the the early 1830s. The Mayan ruins that we visited in Mexico were covered in jungle and the native inhabitants of America were very primitave. There was no way for Joseph Smith to know about great cities with defensive walls, nor the ancient legends of a God that decended from heaven and promised to return. All of these realities that we saw in Cancun were revealed after Joseph published the Book of Mormon.

Pilgrimage

2008-10-20T09:55:00.000-07:00

My mom invited me, my two brothers and our wives to join her on a pilgrimage to Palmyra, NY. We stayed at the Tomlinson Inn just 20 miles away. The inn was a community center for Mendon NY where the Mormon Prophet Brigham Young lived with his family. In 1830, Samuel Smith, a young missionary with a newly published Book of Mormon, came to the inn and offered to sell a copy to Phineas Young, Brigham's brother. Phineas read the book and shared it with Brigham. They were both convinced that it contained the true gospel of Jesus Christ, having been prepared by sincere searching and a glorious vision. They sought out Samuel's brother Joseph and joined the fledgling Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

We went to the Smith farm and saw where the family lived in humble circumstances. It was inspiring to see the simple farm where the boy Joseph, confused by the zealous religionists of his day, went to ask God which church he should join. In an obscure grove of trees, God answered Joseph's prayer by appearing to him with his Son Jesus Christ and saying to join none of the churches. Through this boy, God restored the true church of Jesus Christ to the earth. How fitting that by simple means, God performed a mighty miracle. It was much the same as a baby born in Bethlehem.

In the last week, we walked where Jesus walked. We have seen where God parted the veil between heaven and earth and appeared to man. We saw where an ancient prophet hid his testament of Christ and entrusted it to the boy prophet. We stood where the true church of Christ was legally re-organized on the earth. We shook hands with a modern day apostle, David A. Bednar and felt the spirit of the Lord testify that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true.

Sickos

2008-09-10T14:53:00.000-07:00

I read an opinion in the Bakersfield Californian that described an elderly woman knocking on the door one Saturday morning. The writer said he thought she might be "selling something for her church." He was appalled to learn that she was promoting Proposition 8 and then he began a rant about these "sickos" who go door to door selling hate.

When did mothers, wives or daughters, who love their families and want to leave a strong society for their children and grandchildren become sickos? When did that happen? I thought sickos practiced deviant sexual behavior indiscriminately. They sought only to satisfy their selfish desires and have jeopardized the safety and health of the world with fatal sexually transmitted diseases. They have usurped the media and promote their agenda of sexual corruption. They have infiltrated our judicial system and are trying to impose their value system on an otherwise moral society. I thought those were the sickos.

I am reminded of the passage in Isaiah that says, "Woe, woe, woe unto those who call evil good and good evil." Vote yes on Prop 8.

Jubilee Birthday Celebration

2008-08-25T11:38:00.000-07:00

Nancy negotiated a deal to take me on a vacation rather than suffer the public humiliation of a 50th birthday party. I was more than willing to forego the black balloons and cracks about my declining physical condition. On our way to Monterey Bay we took a detour to the Winchester Mystery house. I love Victorian architecture and have always wanted to see this strange attraction. This picture has a distant view of a second floor door that opens to a full story drop with no staircase. At another place in the house there is a staircase that rises to the ceiling with no door. I devised a book plot based on repositioning the stair to the door which creates a treasure map.

The next day we ate at Bubba Gumps and I posed for this Forrest Gump picture. At the ripe old age of 50, I am entitled to expound some wisdom. "Life is like a box of chocolate, and I don't like chocolate." After our wonderful vacation it's back to the diet and more ex-pounding.

Casa de Fruta

2008-08-25T11:06:00.000-07:00

I recommend the pulled pork sandwich at Casa de Fruta. This was a fun rest stop at the west end of the Pacheco Pass on 152. There is a huge fruit stand, diner, candy shop, train ride and other touristy things.

2008-08-25T10:59:00.000-07:00

We went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and saw the jellies. I prefer raspberry, but it was cool.

Our Future

2008-08-20T15:44:00.000-07:00

We completed our first walking promotion for Prop 8. We can't make the second week so we did some telephone calling instead. Our walk was a good experience. Most of our neighbors were positive and thanked us for our efforts. We did find a cluster of gays and a woman whose husband left her and her three children for a man. It was obvious that her life was devastated. How cruel and selfish. Except for their creativity and artistic ability as a group, all of my experience with gays has been negative. They are a selfish lot.

We did some telephone polling and called an apartment complex. Many of the voters were under twenty. It is obvious that Hollywood and our school system has converted our children to the falasy that gays are the same as everyone else. It will be a sad awakening when they realize that gender roles are important. Moms and dads have purpose. Those who deny or blur their gender, dull their own self worth. Imorality in any form weakens the basic unit of our society, the family.

Constitutional Abuse

2008-08-15T09:58:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow Mom and I will brave the Bakersfield heat and walk a precinct in favor of Proposition 8, a California constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman. Who would have dreamed our society would descend to this level. I guess definitions are important given that liberal interpretations have altered the meaning of simple words like "is," reference Bill Clinton. It seems they all want to justify their selfish and sinful lifestyles.

It has become necessary to legislate morality because we as a society no longer have shared mores. We arrived at this point systematically through decisions of liberal courts. Initially the first amendment was intended to keep government out of our places of worship and allow us to protest when government exceeded its authority. A liberal court upheld that pornography was an appropriate protest. That was twisted to include almost any immoral act even the murder of innocent unborn children. The liberal manipulation of the law has eliminated God from government, denying our responsibility to a higher authority. The latest liberal manipulation is to force moral people to accept and even embrace the practice of homosexuality by legitimatizing it with the label of marriage.

To me the progressive agenda has come full circle. The government is now telling us what we must believe is correct, all the while using the First Amendment as its shield. This is an abuse of power and an assault on our rights of worship. It was derived not by common consent, a democratic process or even a representative vote, but by a liberal interpretation of an already weakened constitution.

My parents taught me what was right and my conscience confirms the truth. I don't need Hollywood or the Government to tell me what to believe. I pray that decent people will rally in favor of the movement to preserve traditional marriage.