Things We Don't Know

It is getting to that point in the semester where my capacity to think of things to write has begun to wain.  Between a presentation on the Puritans, a paper on the origins of the Utah War, and another on how historians have written about women in Latin America, I am pretty well out of thoughts for the rest of the day.  So hopefully this post won't be too poorly written.  :)

Even though there is a lot of work left to do, I am very excited for the end of this semester to come.  It is the last time I will ever take a college course for credit, which is an interesting and exciting landmark for me.  It feels like I've been a college student forever, and now things are winding down (except for my comps and the dissertation, but I don't want to think about that right now) and it feels good.  This summer I get the opportunity to teach my first college class: Church History to 1844 at BYU.  The Lord blessed me with this opportunity when one of the professors who had been scheduled to teach couldn't teach and a good friend advocated my cause.

As is often the case, after the excitement of hearing about this position came the fear of wondering if I know enough and am qualified to do the job.  I decided a long time ago that there was less competition and more room to make a contribution in studying Church history after 1850, meaning that much of my reading has been on the Utah and modern periods of Church history rather than the early period.  I have been blessed with research opportunities that helped me to learn a lot about Brigham Young, Church education, and several other aspects of these later periods of Church history.  So I must confess a sense of fear about teaching a less familiar subject.  But if there is one thing I've learned in 11 years of college, it is that it is a good thing to identify the areas we don't know as much about because that allows us to grow.

So of necessity I have been thinking a lot about the things that I don't know.  Along these lines, I had to give a presentation on the Puritans on Wednesday.  It was an interesting exercise.  The professor specifically assigned us topics outside of our time periods and expertise to teach us how to get through a lecture about a subject we are unfamiliar with.  In preparation I read 3 books on Puritanism and threw together some basic information into a lecture.  In the lecture, I opted to talk about some of the popular perceptions of the Puritans like Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter and George Miller's play The Crucible.  It was evident to me that we don't always have the most positive view of these people.  But as I studied them, I found a lot of common ground.  They were a religious people who wanted to be a part of English society without partaking of the sins they saw around them.  Their goal was to become "a city on a hill," an example to friends and family of Christian faith and virtue.  Yes, sometimes their devotion got out of hand and the result was a terrible event like the Salem witch trials, but such things were anomalies in the lives of a a people whose highest desire was to serve God.  The Puritans were not perfect, but neither were they completely horrible either.

I realized that I had let the anomalies define my views of these people, rather than taking the time to actually know who they were.  How often do we do this?  We learn one small detail about a person (whether living or from the past) and we decide that that detail defines the man or woman.  But the more I have studied Church history, the more I have realized how many things I do not know.  There is almost always more to the story and more to the man or woman than what we know, including details recorded only in heaven.

I believe that none of us would wish to be defined by our moments of greatest weakness, even though such moments are important in our individual growth and development.  What a tragedy it is, then, when we do this very thing to others: both living and dead.  I believe we must do as Elder Jeffrey R. Holland suggested and "Let people repent.  Let people grow.  Believe that people can change and improve.  Is that faith?  Yes!  Is that hope?  Yes!  Is it charity?  Yes!  Above all, it is charity, the pure love of Christ."  Some day I expect that we will no longer "see through a glass, darkly" but "face to face" (1 Corinthians 13:12), seeing and comprehending "things as they really are" (Jacob 4:13).  At that day, none of us will regret having been too charitable or having forgiven too much.

Brett

Prophetic Guidance in Times of Trouble

Saturday Afternoon Session, 183rd Annual General Conference, April 6, 2013

I absolutely love General Conference and the entire Conference weekend.  It is a moment for me to stop doing whatever I am doing and listen to apostles and prophets who have been called of God to give His holy words unto me.  I'm sure I say this every time, but I can't remember a time when I have enjoyed Conference so much.  The messages have been bold and powerful declarations of the truth and have stood out in stark contrast against so many of the messages and ideas that we are seeing in the world around us today.  Perhaps I have just been paying closer attention, but it seems as though this conference has lifted a warning voice in a powerful way and I have felt like those messages and warnings have been so applicable to me personally.

Each of the messages has been wonderful, but here are a few that stood out to me:

1) President Monson's opening message was short, but powerful.  I never cease to be excited by the announcement of new Temples and the addition of Temples in Cedar City and Rio de Janeiro will be such a blessing to the saints in those areas!  What astounded me most, however, was President Monson's discussion of the numbers of missionary calls presently issued with elders and sisters waiting to enter the MTC.  20,000 calls out at one single time was absolutely astounding to me, particularly on top of the 10,000 new missionaries already serving from where we were at last year.  Between the economy and Korea and a thousand other things, it is easy to get discouraged these days.  But the growth in Temples and missionary work serves as a powerful reminder that there are wonderful and miraculous things taking place in this troubled world of ours as well.  If we are attentive, we will behold the hand of the Lord wherever we look for it.

2) President Packer's talk was bold and powerful.  I must admit that I felt very sad as he told the story about the snakes in the ivy, but that story was so very applicable to us.  His witness of the atonement of our Savior stood out and reminded me of just why I am a member of this Church!

3) Elder Ballard's talk on the priesthood was so beautifully done.  Sometimes we forget that the priesthood is the very power of God and that it blesses all of us as we worthily seek to build up the kingdom of God.

3) I am not sure I have ever heard a more powerful talk on the law of chastity than the one that Elder Bednar gave.  It was pure and powerful and it taught the why of that important commandment so powerfully that I don't believe anyone who heard it could have misunderstood.  I know that this isn't always an easy or a popular commandment to teach in our world, but as we understand it within the context of our divine nature and destiny, it makes perfect sense.  Elder Bednar made me want to strive for greater virtue and purity, to rise to the divinity within me through developing greater purity within my mind and heart that I might be more like my Father in Heaven.

4) Elder Hales's talk in the priesthood session was similar to Elder Bednar's.  He reminded us that we must stand for truth and righteousness, no matter the cost because the commandments do not change.  It was perhaps the most moving talk I have ever heard Elder Hales give (which is saying something!).

7) Both of President Uchtdorf's talks (in Priesthood and in the Sunday Morning Session) were so hopeful and optimistic.  He always gives such wonderful counsel and reminds me that even as we stress obedience to the Lord's commandments, that it is ok that we are not yet perfect so long as we are striving each day to become like the Savior.

6) Elder Perry's talk moved me in similar ways to those by Elder Bednar and Elder Hales.  It was a powerful call to obedience and righteousness!

7) Who didn't love President Monson's story about trying to start Provo Canyon on fire?  It made me flash back to earlier times with friends on campouts.  There is nothing more frightening in this world than the thought of a group of boys, some matches, and dry fields.

8) Finally, I don't know how he does it, but conference in and conference out, Elder Holland never ceases to give what for me is the most memorable talk of the conference.  I loved his use of the story of the boy and his father, and particularly his statement about how the father referred to the need for "us," meaning his family, rather than "him," the boy, to be healed.  Trials of faith don't just come to individuals, they come to whole families and the Savior's healing touch extends to all those affected by those trials.  What a marvelous gift the power to believe is!  Would that I could have as much faith as did that anxious father!

What talks spoke to you?

I'm grateful for the conferences of the Church and for the constant willingness of the Lord to teach me notwithstanding my many imperfections and faults!

Brett

It is Finished

Happy Easter!  What a wonderful season this is!  Spring temperatures, flowers, marshmallow peeps, and most important of all, an opportunity to remember the gift and sacrifice of our Savior!  Next week we will be blessed to be able to listen to the voices of Prophets and Apostles!  And this week we have a chance to reflect upon the great price our Savior paid for us!

The Pietà by Michelangelo

This morning as I was getting dressed, I listened to Elder McConkie's wonderful talk, "The Purifying Power of Gethsemane" and I was struck by one of the scriptures that he quoted from.  It informs us of the Savior's final words in mortality.  "[Jesus] said, It is finished: and he bowed his head and gave up the ghost" (John 19:30).  The Joseph Smith Translation corroborates this statement, telling us: "Jesus when he had cried again with a loud voice, saying, Father it is finished, thy will is done, yielded up the ghost" (JST Matthew 27:50).

It was the word "finished" that stood out to me in these verses.  The Savior still had people to teach and a work to organize in the Spirit World; the Resurrection to accomplish; Apostles, Prophets, and faithful saints to visit; a Restoration of the Gospel to accomplish; hearts to touch and souls to save.  And all of this was to occur before His triumphal return and millennial reign of glory, to say nothing of that time shortly before the Final Judgment when an angel shall sound his trump and proclaim to all the world, "It is finished; it is finished!  The Lamb of God hath overcome and trodden the wine-press alone, even the wine-press of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God" (D&C 88:106).  And even then,

"The works of God continue,

 And worlds and lives abound; 

Improvement and progress

Have one eternal round."

Hymn #284

What then does it mean to be finished and how do we come to that certainty that the Savior had in that moment that His offering had been enough?

As is usually my habit when I come across a word or phrase in the scriptures that I suddenly realize I don't fully understand, I decided to see how it was used in other places throughout the scriptures.  One verse in particular stood out to me.  In April of 1838, as the Saints were trying to reestablish themselves in Missouri, having been virtually expelled from Kirtland and their Temple, the Lord gave a revelation to the Prophet Joseph.  In this revelation, the impoverished and exiled Saints were commanded to "re-commence laying the foundation of [the Lord's] house" (D&C 115:11) at Far West, Missouri--a Temple yet to be built in these last days because of the expulsion from Missouri later that year.  And then the Lord gave them this instruction about this Temple: "Thus let them from that time forth labor diligently until it shall be finished, from the corner stone thereof unto the top thereof, until there shall not anything remain that is not finished" (D&C 115:12).

As I read that verse, it hit me: When the construction of a Temple is finished, it is then that it is fit to be dedicated to the Lord so that the real work can begin taking place in that Temple.  Finished does not mean that the work ends.  In fact, it often means that the real work has just begun.  Being finished in the godly sense means being ready to bless the lives and souls of those around us.

Of course the Savior's atonement had been efficacious and had been blessing the lives of our Father's children since before Adam, making it possible for Adam and Eve to immediately access the Savior's redeeming power from their first moments in mortality.  But by finishing His atonement, the Savior ensured that there would never be any doubts or questions.  It would work for every son or daughter of God who exercised faith in the Savior unto the repentance of his or her sins.

How did the Savior know it was finished?  We don't know, but there must have been some form of assurance from the Father that His offering was finished and acceptable; that His atonement was ready to do the full work of salvation and exaltation.  I believe that we too can be blessed to know when we have done enough and finished certain parts of our lives.  Like a baker, there may be times when we will check our cake only to find that the middle still needs a little more time, but I believe that when we have done all that we can do, the Spirit will let us know when are where we are to go and what we are to do there and who we are to bless.

Brett

Things of Incalculable Worth

Wow, it is amazing to think that this semester is winding down so quickly!  I find the deadlines coming closer and closer and myself still having a ton of work to do to prepare for them to come.  To be honest, it scares the living daylights out of me when i think of just how much there is left to be done, but somehow I'll manage.  I had a great day yesterday.  Rob was at DFW for several hours on a layover between Costa Rica and Salt Lake City, so I was able to go out and go to lunch with him for a couple of hours and hear about his trip.  Monkeys, crocodiles, sloths, beaches, and zip lines!  Central America sounds like a blast, and a whole lot better than the Central America from the books I've been reading for my class on the historiography of modern Latin America.  One of these days I need to take a trip outside of the United States.  And at least once in my life, I'd love to go and see some of the homelands of the people that I taught while I was a missionary.  I've always wondered how much of a difference it would have made in my teaching if I could have truly understood the circumstances that the wonderful people I taught had come from.  All jokes aside, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Mississippi were not Third World Countries.  (Well, maybe Mississippi.  Just kidding).

Record of the Twelve Apostles, 14 and 27 February 1835
Joseph Smith Papers Project

This morning during my scripture study, I came across a comment that impressed me.  Speaking of the baptisms at the Waters of Mormon, Mormon writes that "they were in number about two hundred and four souls" (Mosiah 18:16).  The thing that impressed me here, and that I had never seen before, was the specificity of the number.  Mormon did not write, "about two hundred souls" or even "about two hundred and five souls"; he wrote "about two hundred and four souls."  That meant that somebody had been keeping a record of the names and numbers of those who entered into the baptismal covenant at the Waters of Mormon.  And more than that, this list of names and numbers was available to Mormon some four or five hundred years later, when he was editing the records that came to be known as the Book of Mosiah.

This set me to thinking about journals, records, and record keeping and just how important they are to us.  I was reminded of a quotation by the Prophet Joseph Smith about record keeping, which when I found it, proved to be even more valuable than I had previously realized.

On February 14, 1835, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles was officially organized for the first time in this dispensation.  Prior to that time, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery had held the office of Apostle, and there was a First Presidency over the Church, but no Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.  Because the Quorum of the Twelve hold the keys of the Kingdom and are necessary to the reorganization of the First Presidency upon the death of the President, this was an extremely important event in the history of the Church.  Some two weeks later, Joseph Smith called the Twelve together to give them some instructions.  He said:

"I have something to lay before this council, an item which they will find to be of great importance to them.  I have for myself learned--a fact by experience which on reflection gives me deep sorrow.  It is a truth that if I now had in my possession every decision which has been given upon important items of doctrine and duties since the rise of this church, they would be of incalculable worth to the saints, but we have neglected to keep records of such things, thinking that perhaps they would never benefit us afterwards, which had we now, would decide almost any point that might be agitated; and now we cannot bear record to the church nor unto the world of the great and glorious manifestations that have been made to us with that degree of power and authority which we otherwise could if we had those decisions to publish abroad.  Since the twelve are now chosen, I wish to tell them a course which they may pursue and be benefitted hereafter in a point of light of which they, perhaps, are not now aware.  At all times when you assemble in the capacity of a council to transact business let the oldest of your number preside, and let one or more be appointed to keep a record of your proceedings and on the decision of every important item, be it what it may, let such decision be noted down, and they will ever after remain upon record as law, covenant and doctrine.  Questions thus decided might at the time appear unimportant, but should they be recorded and one of you lay hands upon them afterward you might find them of infinite worth not only to your brethren but a feast also to your own souls" (Joseph Smith, February 27, 1835, Record of the Twelve Apostles, Joseph Smith Papers Project).

Of all of the things that Joseph could have taught the Twelve during their first full meeting as a Quorum, he taught them to keep a record, promising them that as they did so, they would be blessed to find revelation, insight, and the power to testify boldly within those pages.  I believe that this principle applies not only to those called to the Quorum of the Twelve, but to each Latter-day Saint.  This week I came across a diary that gave me some important insights into my ancestor, William Franklin Dowdle (known in parts of Idaho as "Dowdle Bill").  Those insights were probably not what most would consider spiritual, but they gave me a better understanding of my family and tied me more closely to my ancestors.  As I read those entries, I felt a bond develop which I had not felt before.  The mere fact that I could learn more about my third great grandfather was a blessing and even a kind of spiritual experience.

There is a kind of power that comes as we read the diaries, letters, or other records that contain information about our ancestors.  I am perhaps not the best about finding the names, dates, and other things necessary to take names to the Temple.  I need to work on that and find ways to provide the Temple ordinances to my kindred dead.  But I have been greatly blessed by being able to learn about the details of the lives of my ancestors.  I have seen evidence of revelation and inspiration in their lives. I have seen some fall short, only to witness the power of the Atonement in healing those affected by those mistakes.  I have seen others serve faithfully and leave legacies of faith and devotion.  In each case I have been inspired and enlarged.  With each ancestor, I have felt my understanding of my own life grow.

I suspect that I am not alone in the feeling that I would give anything to have in my possession diaries and records from each of my ancestors.  If we feel this way, so will our children, our grandchildren, and so on down the line.  Even as we search out our kindred dead, let us leave a record of our faith and lives for those who will come after us.  Some day our testimonies recorded and our experiences that we have detailed will bless a descendent in a time of crisis or in a moment where he or she needs an added measure of faith.  May we leave for them a record that may touch their hearts and build their faith in just such moments!  And may we leave an honest record also.  Our descendants will need to know about our struggles and challenges and even some of our imperfections, almost as much as they will need to know about our faith.  Such things give them hope when they struggle and help them to gain faith in the power of Christ's atonement when they are less than perfect!

Brett

Blessed Savior, Dear Redeemer

My token picture next to the horned frog on TCU's campus

I apologize for a short blog entry today, but Julianne is only in town for a few more hours and as much as I like writing, I'd rather spend time with her.  We've had a wonderful few days together.  She got into town about 7 pm on Friday and I made dinner for her.  Then on Saturday, our one real day to go and do activities together, after I showed Julianne around TCU's campus we went to the Dallas Museum of Art.  They have a wonderful collection, and we only scratched the surface of it.  But I must say there is something wonderful about seeing works by Monet and Picasso first hand.  The prints are beautiful and moving, but there is always something unique about seeing the original.  Yesterday on Sunday, we went to Church at my old ward so I could introduce Julianne to a few people who had really wanted to meet her and then since my brother Rob was at DFW for a few hours en route to Costa Rica, we went over to the airport to say hello to him.  All in all, it has been an amazing time and it is hard for me to see it coming to an end.

My short thought for the day comes after a question from a former bishop of mine this week.  He asked me what the difference between the duties of Savior and Redeemer is.  With Easter coming up, I thought this was an interesting question to ponder.  While I am sure there are probably some semantics at work here, this is what I came up with.

When I think of a savior, I think of someone who saves a person who otherwise would not be able to survive, who is in mortal or spiritual peril.  Each of us, as a result of our fallen natures has become "carnal, sensual, devilish, knowing evil from good, [and frequently] subjecting [ourselves] to the devil" (Mosiah 6:3).  The prophets speak of us being lost and hopeless, unless there is an atonement and a Savior.  Amulek explained, "For it is expedient that an atonement should be made; for according to the great plan of the Eternal God there must be an atonement made, or else all mankind must unavoidably perish; yea, all are hardened; yea, all are fallen and are lost, and must perish except it be through the atonement which it is expedient should be made" (Alma 34:9).  In His capacity as our Savior, Jesus Christ offers to save us from our carnal selves, from that natural man within us that is "an enemy to God" (Mosiah 3:19).  He thus responds to and helps us to change our sinful nature which comes as a result of our mortality and our subsequent sinful choices here.

On the other hand, when I think of the term redeem, I think of one who restores an item or a person to its former high value.  And (please forgive the carnival analogy) I also think of someone who earns a prize and then gains the right to redeem that prize.  In His capacity as our Redeemer, Jesus Christ does both of these things for us.  In a sense we are like those prizes at a carnival that nobody ever seems to win because the games are rigged and it is nearly impossible to win.  Through His atonement, the Savior did the impossible and lived the perfect life, wrought the perfect atonement, and gained the victory over death.  As a result of this feat, Mormon tells us that He "hath ascended into heaven and hath sat down on the right hand of God, to claim of the Father his rights of mercy which he hath upon the children of men" (Moroni 7:27).  He earned the right to redeem us.  He won the prize.  And because of Him, none of us need remain in an unredeemed state.  He will take any who are willing to come.  (Who doesn't want to leave a carnival as soon as possible, right?)

But beyond that, He restores us to our divine state.  He restores us to our capacity as our Father's children.  Because of the fall and our fallen natures, that divinity is occasionally obscured by our own poor choices.  We fall short of who we really are, and what we were really sent here to do.  But because there is a Redeemer, none need to remain in a lost and fallen state.  None need to be motivated and moved by the natural man.  We can be returned to that state of holiness and divinity with which we left the presence of our Heavenly Father.  And in actuality, because of the Savior, we can become more than we were then and better than we were in our premortal lives.  God did not send us here just to hopefully get a few of us back to our former status.  He sent us here to help us to grow and increase and become like Him, to become more than we had ever been before.  We can do this because we have a Savior who cleanses and removes our fallen nature and who restores to us our divine nature.  He truly is our "Blessed Savior, and Dear Redeemer."  May He guide us and may we be both saved and redeemed by His divine power!

Brett

We Will Serve the Lord

It is hard to believe that it is already Spring Break and that by the end of this week, the month of March will be over half-way finished.  Spring Break in graduate school really doesn't mean much other than you don't have to attend your regularly scheduled classes.  This break from classes gives you time to sort of catch up with the numerous assignments that are looming on the horizon.  So I will be spending a lot of time reading and writing this week in preparation for the second half of the semester.  But there will be one fantastic part of my break this coming Friday, when Julianne is coming to visit for the weekend!  After two long months, I am very excited to see her again!

"The Consecration of Joshua," Arnold Friberg

I've been thinking a lot lately about personal discipleship and what it means.  Making the switch from a YSA ward to a family ward has caused me to consider my personal discipleship and just what the Lord expects of me.  For perhaps the first time in my life, I have found it difficult to go to Church because I feel like something of an outsider there.  So on Sundays, it has taken extra effort to get up and get ready for Church.  (Of course I should note that this is not necessarily due to any failure on the part of my ward members, who seem to be wonderful and loving people who just don't know me that well).  But in experiencing this challenge, I have realized that this challenge presents me with an opportunity to deepen my level of commitment to the Lord.  Just because something is hard doesn't mean we ought to give up or that it isn't worth doing.  Indeed, the hard things in life are often the things that we most certainly should not give up on because they are the things that are most worth doing.  I have realized that even if I feel like an outsider, I need to be at my meetings because I love the Lord and I want to grow closer to Him.

This week I was reminded of the story of Joshua, a story that we perhaps don't discuss enough in the Church.  If ever a person (excepting the Lord) was put into an unenviable position, it was Joshua.  Succeeding Moses could not have been easy and the Lord knew that.  He reassured Joshua, "as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.  Be strong and of a good courage....Only be thou strong and very courageous....Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee withersoever thou goest" (Joshua 1:5-7, 9). The number of times that the Lord urged Joshua to be strong and courageous surely showed just how difficult a situation Joshua had been placed in.  He was to take over for one of the greatest prophets who would ever serve and testify of the Lord.  The weight of this duty would require every ounce of strength and courage that Joshua could muster, but he had the promise that the Lord would be with him to guide him and strengthen him in his duties.

Joshua magnified his calling to the best of his abilities and established Israel firmly in the land that the Lord had promised them, leading them by the power of revelation and by faith in the Lord's power to make good on His promises to them.  At the end of his life, after the dramatic events of crossing Jordan and watching the walls of Jericho tumble, Joshua had but one piece of counsel for the children of Israel: "Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord.  And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:14-15).  Joshua wanted the people to serve the Lord sincerely and to stop giving their allegiance to the false gods that had captured their worship in earlier days.

Serving the Lord in sincerity and truth is our aim and our desire.  And no matter what anyone else does or says, we can serve the Lord.  The beauty of true worship is that it is an individual choice.  Of course it is always easier when we feel the strength of combined worship, unity, and fellowship.  Of course it is easier when we feel like we fit in and we are comfortable.  But if for a small moment we must worship without that usual feeling of comfort, we can and should still do so.  In the end, our worship is a reflection of how we feel about the Lord, not about how comfortable we feel in the ward we are attending.

I've discovered another thing.  There are people there who are reaching out to me and welcoming me if I am willing to accept their friendship.  More often than not my feelings of discomfort have more to do with my inability to give others the benefit of the doubt and to see their warmth and friendship than with their unwillingness to befriend and fellowship me.  Worshipping the Lord entails learning how to see others the way that He sees them and accept their goodness the way that He accepts them.

I am grateful for the way that He has been teaching me through this experience.  I have much to learn as I strive to become a true disciple and worship Him in sincerity and truth.  But as a first step, I can determine with Joshua, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

Brett

Loving and Serving God's Children

Dad and me at my MA graduation

I can hardly believe it is already March!  March is a wonderful month because it means flowers, warmer temperatures, and a much anticipated visit from Julianne later this month.  March also means that May and my much anticipated return home for the summer is coming ever closer!  But one thing March also means to me is my Dad, whose birthday is this coming Thursday.  Since I won't be close enough to celebrate with him, I thought I'd write a little bit about him on my blog today.

The best example of service I have ever known is my Dad.  During my growing up years that I remember, my Dad was an assistant principle at Joaquin Elementary School in Provo.  While I'm sure he would disagree with me, it always seemed to be a difficult position: all of the work of a principal without the pay of a principal.  In that position though, my Dad began (I use this term loosely) doing something that he carried over with him when he became the principal of Joaquin; he made friends with everyone, particularly the secretaries and janitors, and found ways to help ease their workloads.  I am absolutely certain that shoveling the walks at the school did not fall within the duties of the assistant principal, and I know that it didn't fall within the duties of the principal, but every time it snowed Dad went in early to help the janitors clear the walks.  He knew (and still knows) about the lives and families of each of the teachers, secretaries, and janitors he worked with and took more than a superficial interest in them.  When one of his teachers was having a hard time, he knew about it and he offered his help.  More than that, Dad knew the names of every student in his school and he knew many (if not most) of their parents: a significant accomplishment in a school that had high turnover rates due to the income level of the families in his school.  On top of all of this, Dad never neglected his duties at home nor his callings at Church, a characteristic that he continues to exemplify.

The thing that impresses me about my Dad is that most of the service he rendered while he was a principal was not part of the day to day duties his position encompassed.  He did all of those things, and did them marvelously well, but then he found time to reach out serve in unexpected ways that most of us never think of.  The fitting moment for me came a couple of years ago when my Dad had his retirement party in the school library at Farrer Elementary.  It wasn't filled with stuffy administrators or people from the District Office (no offense intended to them).  It was filled with teachers, janitors, secretaries, students, and parents.  Watching the emotions that the students and parents expressed as they wished him well was a moment I will never forget because it was the outcome of all those acts of service and words of encouragement that Dad offered because he loved the people he worked with.  It was a scene that made me think of the Savior and the kind of people who would have shown up to say goodbye to him.

In a world where we are encouraged to climb ladders and hobnob with the rich and famous, the Savior admonishes us to remember and spend our time serving "the least of these" (Matt 25:40), who truly are our brethren and sisters.  I am grateful that for nearly 32 years, I have been blessed to have an example of a Dad whose interests have been in blessing the lives of those around him.  He serves without being asked and loves without expecting anything in return.  I hope to be able to follow his righteous example to me.

Happy birthday Dad!

Brett