I have spent a lot of the last couple of days pondering my life and how it has gotten me to the point that I am right now. I feel that I have been a devoted member of my church and that I have done my best to become the best person that I can. Over the last year, however, I have been finding myself losing touch of, well, me. Who I was. What I wanted to be. I find myself looking at other people and judging them for their potential mishaps, things of which I will never know to be of certainty. I find myself complaining about the "struggles" in my life and wondering if I will be able to cope with them. I find myself without the desire to "feast upon the words of Christ" which once consumed my every thought. What was happening to me? I was looking at myself and was sickened by what was transpiring. What happened to the happy-go-lucky Mark that defined who I was?
Recently, I have had a couple of very dear friends and family presented with some very difficult hardships. A dear friend of mine in particular who was such a rock in my life, has left what he has known and always known to be true. Another friend of mine had her heart, not just broken, but absolutely demolished by one I would have never expected. Family members going through unspeakable hardships due to the economic downfall, my wife working through some difficult times....and here I sit, in a comfortable home complaining that the bathroom might never be done, about a job that is difficult and so out of my realm, but so stable and able to provide.
It was my week to teach the lesson in Priesthood to the youth, and being annoyed with that fact found myself online preparing for a lesson. I came across this talk by Elder David A. Bednar (http://www.byui.edu/Presentations/Transcripts/EducationWeek/2010_07_30_Bednar.htm). It had nothing to do with what my lesson was on, but the title hit me like ice water....jolting me into a sense of my nothingness. "Who's on the Lord's side Who? Now is the time to show."
I had intended to read it after I got home from church, but Kaylinn had grabbed it thinking it was part of my lesson. I started to read it in Sacrament Meeting and couldn't take my eyes off of it.....it was a talk given for me, and I knew it. This is a quote from the talk that I hope to never forget:
“Every generation has its tests and its chance to stand and prove itself. Would you like to know of one of our toughest tests? Hear the warning words of President Brigham Young, ‘The worst fear I have about this people is that they will get rich in this country, forget God and His people, wax fat, and kick themselves out of the Church and go to hell. This people will stand mobbing, robbing, poverty, and all manner of persecution and be true. But my greatest fear is that they cannot stand wealth.
Ours then seems to be the toughest test of all for the evils are more subtle, more clever. It all seems less menacing and it is harder to detect. While every test of righteousness represents a struggle, this particular test seems like no test at all, no struggle and so could be the most deceiving of all tests.
Do you know what peace and prosperity can do to a people—It can put them to sleep. The Book of Mormon warned us of how [Satan], in the last days, would lead us away carefully down to hell. The Lord has on the earth some potential spiritual giants whom He saved for some six thousand years to help bear off the Kingdom triumphantly, and the devil is trying to put them to sleep. The [adversary] knows that he probably won’t be too successful in getting them to commit many great and malignant sins of commission. So he puts them into a deep sleep, like Gulliver, while he strands them with little sins of omission. And what good is a sleepy, neutralized, lukewarm giant as a leader?
We have too many potential spiritual giants who should be more vigorously lifting their homes, the kingdom, and the country. We have many who feel they are good men [and women], but they need to be good for something—stronger patriarchs, courageous missionaries, valiant [family history and] temple workers, dedicated patriots, devoted quorum members. In short, we must be shaken and awakened from a spiritual snooze”
A message by Brigham Young given over a century ago! At that moment, I realized that I was being lulled away into a spiritual slumber. I looked over at my wife...mesmerized by the beautiful, strong, and worthy woman who sat next to me....and made a commitment right then and there that I would do all in my power to not be a lukewarm husband, friend, and leader. I knew that having potential was not enough. I knew that the Lord has truly blessed me throughout my life, and I didn't want those blessings to be a waste. I encourage all of us to take a good look at who we are and then look at what we need to become. This weekend is the perfect opportunity for all of us to listen carefully to the words of the brethren and begin the journey of fulfilling our true potential.
Pretty sure I am not cut out for the all-nighter fan fare. We wrote half our script Friday night until about 2am. Then gathered again at 8am for breakfast and ... everything else that followed. I was quite proud of our finished product. We did a spoof of Disney Pixar UP! and the temptations taking us away from Paradise falls. An overall great success. A few highlights included:
And I hate to boast but we were the best performance of the night. With 9 other wards competing, we heard from many sources that we were the most put together and entertaining. I hope this means we're not up for another assignment! :) We were absolutely exhausted by the end of the night. So much so that we both took 3 hour naps Sunday afternoon. Nice. 
Parking was a bit of a challenge. Mark already doesn't like driving in the city; too many cars and people - and the bikers! Seriously they feel they own the road which can be annoying when there is no room for them! We ended up passing up the THIRTY DOLLAR lot (what?) and opted for a more affordable free 2 hour parking just across the street. 2 hours seems like plenty of time being the weather was cold and it was baseball-lets be honest. After meeting up with the boys, we headed up to our glamorous seats; just barely missing the last row by a hair.
We left on a great note with 2 runs back to back by the Giants in the 4th inning. A splendid evening in the ballpark. Splendid company to boot. And I must add, my sister forgot her giant hoop earrings at my house and I keep *forgetting* to send them back...as seen in this photo. :) Nice.
I have been to the Giant redwoods a few times so was excited when mom said we were going to go again. I have vivid memories of the Banana Slug band and making necklaces in the little campers activity days. Not to mention the giant tree stump that has been made into a dance floor and the tree that was carved years ago to drive through. I have always loved camping here and this weekend was no different!
It must be mentioned that the above picture is a copy of what Trent and Jennifer did. I thought it was so clever and cute that I made Mark pose with me near the small shrub as I pointed to the Giant sequoia.
Check out this root system! CRAZY! Many of the trees had been hollowed out from fires and such so there were tunnels and pockets of hiding places everywhere. We climbed and ran through and enjoyed these majestic beauties for hours!
We had such a great time relaxing with the family and each other. Now I just need to find some time to scrapbook all these memories!