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Helping out and Providence smiles down

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Most of the time I am happy that the weekend is coming and I am going to be able to sleep in a bit. But I was a little bit trepid about what was going to happen. I had volunteered to help one of my friends move on Friday night. I had also volunteered to help a family move from a third floor the apartment complex were where we live. I had volunteered for both before I knew when they were going to happen. I just happened that one was on Friday Night and the other one was at 7AM. I knew the one Friday night would be well attended and would not be too difficult. I was worried about the 7AM deal. A couple of months ago I was asked to help with a move a person into a third story apartment. It ended up taking 4 hours, because there just were not enough people. I was worried it was going to be one of those deals. But I went to the move on Friday night hoping to be able to beg some of the guys to help me the next morning. There was not a great response. But there were a few. Luckily I had Roman and I let Sessel spend the night so he could help too. We went on Saturday morning and about 6 other guys showed up which made a total of 11 there moving. It only took about 30 minutes. Really not too bad. Then at the end of the move one of the guys volunteered to take anyone who wanted to go boating. I wouldn’t have taken up the offer, but it was a blessing for the two teenage boys I had drug along. So we were able to spend a couple of hours on the lake.

I really counted it as a blessing to me and my son who would have not had the chance had we not participated in the moves.

Life is a game to be played

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I have had this philosophy for some time, however I haven’t written it down.

I am very competitive. From the time I was very little I liked to win. I don’t remember specific instances, but I remember being constantly angry as a child when I did not win a game. Many would look at my behavior and just say I was a very poor sport. I was a poor sport and very foolish. Probably, in my late teens or early twenties I began to see that the joy in life comes from playing the game and not the outcome of the game. Once the game is over, win or lose, the fun or enjoyment of the situation is over.

So many times in life we set goals, and goals are very important. But we focus on the goals and don’t enjoy the game. Ever since realizing this I have become much more a lover of the game. Whether it’s sports, board games or video games I try to squeeze all the enjoyment out of playing the game.

It still is hard, especially in the game of life, when the it seems the odds are against me and failure is eminent. At those times it is hard to enjoy the game. This is the point where I am tempted to, and sometimes I do, give up. We’ll it’s really not giving up I believe, I would better define it as resting. Once the resting is over and I am strong enough again to pick myself up and to try again I realized what I learned from the last attempt made me stronger, better, faster, and better at the game. And after enough playing I am able to score small victories.

What is bad and makes life and playing games hardest for me is when I lose this perspective and get mired down in the failure.

If you feeling bad, like your losing the game, take a little rest and then get back up and into the game. Because, at the end of the day, the fun is in the playing the game.

My grandfather DeVere tells of some wisdom that his father gave to him. When situations looked bleak Harry Robinson, my great grandfather would say “Let’s sleep on it. It will look different in the morning.” And you know he is right everything looks better in the morning.

Play, relax, and enjoy the game.

Great new Idea – Green Water Conservation

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On election day I was working as a rover for the Washington County Clerks office in Southern Utah.  I had to be up at 5AM to be at the first polling location to make sure the polling machines were up and working.  On the way back from the I was listening to Morning Edition on NPR and I heard about a guy in San Fransico that had started a company called Myfarm. MY Farm SF website It was a cool story about a guy that is helping people to grow gardens in their yards in San Francisco. He had a done a little studying about it and then put up a inquiry on craigslist and got about 600 inquires within a couple of hours. I told my brother about it and he thought it was a cool idea and wanted to get something going similar in St. George Utah. Mike my brother is a film producer and thought it would be a fun project to document some of his farming adventures on camera. He was talking to one of our friends, Dr. Phillip Lee, a professor of business at Dixie State College, about the Idea. Mike discovered that Dr. Lee had been growing produce in southern utah for over 20 years. He has some really great insights into gardening and farming produce in Southern Utah. Dr. Lee has won several awards at the County Fair for some pretty outstanding produce.

One of the problems with gardening in Sothern Utah is that if you are using water out of the tap it doesn’t make economic sense because of the cost of the water. Tonight I was talk Verl Adams, a freind of mine who is an architech, He is designing a house southern California that is catching the rain water from its roof storing it in a cistern that will use the water for the landscaping. I thought that could potentially solve the problem for people that do not have access to irrigation water.

Verl told me about a house that was built in the desert by University of Utah students in 2004 RosieJoe House Project that used the roof to catch water.

I lived for for 22 months in Micronesia, 14 of those months I lived on without electricity or running water. I lived in some pretty primitive houses and all of them collected water in tanks that ran off the roofs.

Even after the experience of living in Micronesia I had never thought about catching rain water to irrigate the landscaping.  I am definately going to try to incorporate that into every house I live in the rest of my life.

Verl as an architect is trying to develop and build sustainability into the houses he builds.  Everyone needs to think more Green and try to be innovative on how to conserve more and build a more sustainable future.

Good News Thursday

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This week I had a great experience.   It actually started on Tuesday.  Tuesday I carried my laptop to work with me, like I do most days.  I bring it with me because, if someone calls me and I have to fix something on a website it is much easier if I can use my own laptop instead of using my work computer, because my computer at work doesn’t have any editing software or webtools.  Anyway, someone called me and I took out my laptop and attempted to turn it on.  Nothing.  I tried several different things.  Took out the battery, held down the start button.  I was quietly panicking.  I finally called apple.  I was very affraid to call Apple because I could not afford the extended warrenty when the initial warranty ran out.  However, I was desperate and felt that my only option was to pay for support.

The apple guy on the phone was helpful, but indicated I needed to setup an appointment and take it into the local Apple store.  The first appointment time was for Thursday right before lunch.  I knew my sistuation was pretty grim.  We don’t have a ton of money right now, but I believed it would be justified to spend a little money of our savings to get my laptop up and running again.  I actually petitioned a higher power to help with this situation and fasted on Wednesday for help in dealing with the matter.  I was asking for the resources to help fix the problem.  I went into the Apple store and it took the Genius about 10 minutes to diagnose the problem, it was a video card problem and to my amazement, it was covered by the video card manufaturer nVidia.  What a blessing.  The Apple store guy told me it would take 7-10 days to get it fixed.  But it only took two days.  From now on I am going to have good news Thursdays.  I am going to start a page on Facebook called Good News Thursdays.

What was your good news?

Atonement of Jesus Christ

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This is a personal post.  and I am guessing most of the people reading my blog are family .  This is mostly a journal type entry.   Today I figured out something that I hadn’t realized before.  Most of my life I have imagined that the Atonement was only taking effect in my life at the spots were I was making mistakes and I was trying to repent for those mistakes.  I know the Atonement has taken effect because I remember the remose and anguish I have felt and that I wanted to change.  I also realize I don’t feel that anymore.  I am happy.

This is what I realized.  I feel happy today because of the effects of the atonement in my life.  So the Atonement is really effecting my life everyday.  Instead of just the times I was overcoming difficulties.  I have not been fully appreciating the effects of the attonement in my life.  I will do better with this.

This then goes into the next topic.  Now that I understand something how to I share this with my freinds and neighbors.  For those whom I trust and have a similar belief as me I can share this whole thought.  With those that do not share the same faith as me I think at very least I can express to everyone that I am happy and I have peace in my life.

This of course does not mean I am not struggling with afflictions.  Life is hard for everyone.  I just have the feeling I am moving forward and eventually everything will turn out for the best.

God speed