Student of the Month

I apologize for going inactive on y'all, however it don't have many opportunities to get onto a computer anymore! I am alive and well, and will repent of my ways and be more regular with my blog! This isn't the first time I have done something like this, been all committed at first and then loose interest it is kind of a weakness of mine! I get really excited and get really into something and then it gets boring after a while (not saying my blog is boring, this is going to be the smooth transition from my apology into my blog! Just wait and see, it should work out!) I did it with a few of my "favourite" CDs play them over and over really enjoying them, then slowly not liking them anymore, eventually avoiding them all together because they got old! It happened every school year! I would start out each year excited and read yo do better than last year. I would do all my work, and hand in my assignments! I would take notes in class, and study for tests! Eventually some how I lost interest! (I was not a very good student.... At all!) I stopped doing the home work, wouldn't take notes (even slept through some classroom lectures) almost never studied! It was bad! When the end of the school year rolled around I was not doing great in my classes but doing well enough to pass! I was happy to pass with a 55-70% that was good enough for me back then (I certainly am not encouraging these study habits, I greatly regret it now however the lesson must be shared) eventually my grade 12 year rolled around! (Or senior year or what ever else you might call it) I again came with a firm resolve to be better, doing work, studying, taking notes, being a "good student" and like always I fell off! Giving in to mediocrity!  I failed a few classes, calculus, chemistry (math stuff was not my thing) and just scraping by to graduate! I did graduate! A miracle that was an answer to many prayers! (mostly my mothers) well after a I graduated I felt like I knew everything, I felt like I had finally accomplished something!

with this sense of accomplishment I went to find a job! I worked as the lot manager at a car dealership (the lot manager is a fancy name for the dealership go-pher (go-pher this, go-pher that) I parked cars, and filled them with gas! I also applied and was accepted to the university of Lethbridge! Another miracle answering my prayers! It was about this time when I was starting to venture out on my own (kind of) that I realized something, after 13 years of schooling I had a very limited understanding of anything, I barely knew anything from school, and I knew absolutely nothing about living in the world! I had no idea how to finance a car, or get a mortgage on a house, how to manage a bank account properly or anything else in the world! When I started studying at university I realized I had really learned nothing in high school! And what I did learn they had to re-teach! It was a rude awakening for me and a hard adjustment! (Fortunately for me I get to leave that behind and worry about it again after my mission!)

Well upon reflecting on that I thought of how it would feel to "graduate" from this life and arrive in the after life! I would not like to be in the same situation I was in after graduating high school! I would not like to realize that I had learned nothing valuable and had almost nothing to show for all the work I had put into my life! finding out That I had no idea about the really important things, and what I thought I did know I would have to relearn does not sound like a fun thing in the eternal worlds! That would be a rude awakening and an incredibly hard adjustment for me! So what are the important things in this life! What are we going to wish we knew when we "graduate"? In the New Testament we read "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." (John 17:3) in the Book of Mormon we read "Wherefore, all mankind were in a lost and in a fallen state, and ever would be save they should rely on this Redeemer." (1 Nephi 10:6) it seems to me like the most important thing we must learn in this life is to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and come unto our Father in Heaven through Him! there is "no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent." (Mosiah 3:17) it truly is only through Christ we can be prepared for the next life! As we follow the example of Jesus Christ and trust in Him we will be prepared to "graduate" from this life! We will have no cause to fear and tremble with an uncertainty about what lays ahead! We will have a firm hope and knowledge in what surely will await us on the other side of this life! we will have the knowledge we will need to move onward and upward in our eternal progression only through Jesus Christ!

WMI? HAVE YOUR OWN, PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST!

Not a Missing Link

Is any one else out there just fascinated in learning about their family history? Or do the stories of your ancestors bring you emended satisfaction? Do you have an unquenchable desire to know where you have come from? ME TOO!!!! I love learning about my family tree! It is a lot of fun for me! As members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we call this "the spirit of Elijah" because it is a fulfillment of Malachi's Old Testament prophecy "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." (Malachi 4:5-6) "the spirit of Elijah" is the latest craze! With family history sites and experts located everywhere it isn't hard at all to do genealogy work, even within the comforts of your own home! (Just as an FYI the largest source of family history data is found on familysearch.org) In fact my eight year old niece (or so she was at the time) used familysearch.org for a school project! She found that we are related to William the conquerer, Joan of arc, a royal line in Jerusalem at the time of Christ, and eventually hit a biblical line that went through all the way to Adam and Eve! In this blog I just wanted to share with you some experiences and stories I have had or I have heard with my family history! (And anyone can find stories about their ancestors and have neat stories to tell just like I do! It is fun and easy)

I will start with more recent and move backward in time! One of the most influential moments of my life! I was preparing to go on a week long church camp out called "trek" (a reenactment of the early Latter-Day Saints journey west to avoid persecution) my own father sat me down at the kitchen table and asked me a direct question (I remember this conversation quite vividly in my mind!) he asked me what I wanted to be remembered for and being a 13 year old boy I said I wanted to be known as the fire starter. He reply that that was a good goal but explained he had a higher vision for me! He told me he wanted me to be known as a hard worker! In everything I do now I think "how will I be remembered? Will they know me as a hard worker?"

When I was in high school I was involved the Student council admin (or StuCo for short) Meaning I was roped into doing a lot of things! (Now I probably would have done most of them anyway but being in StuCo I had no choice in the matter) well we volunteered at the relay for life as a relay team! And I had an awesome experience! I even wrote it in my journal! (Yes I have an awesome daily accounting of my life known as my personal journal...... It is a pretty good read!) in my journal I recorded the following "early in the evening I had bought luminaries for grandpa Paxman and uncle Ross. When it was time to light the luminaries I could feel in that moment that though I may not know him, grandpa knows me and is watching
out for me! I had never felt closer to him than in that moment!" My grandpa Paxman died of melanoma when I was 2 years old! From every thing I have been able to gather about him he was a great man!

I was walking around a small town in southern Alberta during a basketball tournament! My team was playing at the time so I took some time to unwind relax and prep for the next game! I walked into this own shop and an old native man stopped me! He said "you're a Forsyth aren't you?" I replied in the affirmative. He then said he just knew! That he had dealt with my grandpa Forsyth a lot and could just tell I was related to him! We had a nice conversation and just before I left he said "you come from good stock"

One of my favourite stories is about my great grandpa Neil Snow Forsyth! He served in the Canadian military during world war 1 as a veterinarian for the mounted regiment! (Simply put he took care of soldiers horses) he wrote the following experience in his journal (yeah he had an awesome record of his daily dealings too!) he recorded the story of one night! He was laying in his bed just about to fall asleep when he heard a
voice whisper sit up quick..... Odd, no one else was in his room, but he heard it again, so he sat up! No sooner he had stood up than a piece of white hot shrapnel had fallen right were his pillow had been!

Or another favourite story of mine about my great great grandfather, William Paxman and his wife Katherine Ann Love! They traveled in the late 1800s to New Zealand as missionaries (kinda like how I am in Georgia as a missionary now, but way more cool) this couple lived with the Maori people for years! They even helped them discover the Book of Mormon (or #DiscoverTheBook) by translating it from English into the Maori language! These aboriginal people became so fond of my great great grandparents that when the little Paxman girl sadly passed away she was buried in a traditional grave yard! I love stories like these and I have so many others that I know of! These stories bring me a sense of excitement about where I came from and who I am! In a very real way these peoples lives have influenced and effected who I am today! I love learning about them and perhaps.... Just maybe years down the road my life and my journal will be interesting to one of my great grandchildren.

WMI? FAMILY HISTORY IS ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE!

King of the Band

So this one time at band camp...... I won't hop in quite that quick! Over my years in junior high and high school I played trumpet in band! (for you band geeks out there you know now that I was the coolest person in the room and I knew it!) I loved playing the trumpet and participating in our band! Suzy (the poor band director that had to put up with me for 4 years) had to through a pencil or baton at me to get me to shut up or would call out "hey dingle-fritz" to get my attention, but besides all that she was a great friend and an amazing director! I learned a lot from her and from playing the trumpet!

For those of you not aware the trumpet is the best instrument in the band and those who play it are the funniest and coolest people in the band! (As you can tell we are humble too.) The trumpet will play most of the main lines in a song and even if we aren't the main line we play the part you get stuck in your head! The instrument is classified as a brass (meaning it is shiny and makes a lot of noise!) and is fairly simple in its form! The mouth piece is similar to any other brass instrument, it will convert the buzzing sound from your lips into the crisp soothing sound of the king of the band! Or in other words whatever is played into the mouth piece is what will come out, it is simply a messenger to the trumpets body! The body is composed of brass pipe bent in an ovular form with three valves in the middle! The combination of pressing one or more of these valves and adjusting the speed and amount of air put through the mouth piece will produce the different notes! Each valve has a tuning slide to provide for optimal clarity and pitch! That is a basic over view of the trumpet!

I had a buddy in the trumpet section we got along great! We were always talking in class and we had some of the best input! He was a very good trumpeter while I was simply a mediocre one! There were a few things that separated us, for example he had gone out and found a mouthpiece that fit his facial structure and playing while I had just taken what came with my trumpet and went with it! He would tune his instrument with each tuning slide while I would just tune the master slide! He would oil his valves and grease his slides often, I would occasionally! He practiced and took private lessons..... I did neither! He took time to make band and his instrument a priority I simply did not! (To clarify I did enjoy band and I wanted to do well but I simply didn't put in as much time and effort as he did!) the difference between us showed when we played! He always sounded smooth and crisp his lines were delicate and bold, he was all around a better trumpeter than I was! It wouldn't have mattered how nice an instrumentI had...., he still would have sounded better because he had put inall the effort to strengthen his ambusher and diaphragm and lung capacity! I was good and was able to play the music, I performed with the band and got by, however my friend excelled and has continued to play on his own!

I have found that the trumpet and it's player are much like a church! There is the body of the church it's congregation and the individuals that compose it are much like the body of the trumpet! The combination of their personal activity in the church and involvement is similar to that of the the body of the trumpet! Many individual parts must be in the correct placement for optimal sound and clarity! The mouth piece much like the leader of that church taking what he is given and putting it through the body to create the sound! The interesting thing about a trumpet is that it will not, and cannot produce music on its own it needs a master to play it!

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we make the claim to be The Church of Jesus Christ (wonder if you could have got that from the name?) he is our master he is the one that "plays" our church! It just so happens that we call our leader and prophet here on the earth today the mouth piece of our religion! He is a chosen messenger hand picked by God himself! The prophet takes what is given him by revelation and puts it through to the body of the church unchanged and pure! The master trumpeter of our church, Jesus Christ can also give revelation of the truth of what the prophet says to individuals by "placing the tuning slides!" He will press certain valves at certain times! As we study the scriptures Playing the sweetest melodies with His mouthpiece and His church! What melodies and precious notes come from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints?  a sense of purpose and belonging! real and lasting happiness! humanitarian aid and a concern for our fellow man! but most importantly a personal relationship with and a knowledge of Jesus Christ! That relationship Is built as we "oil our valves and grease our slides" or in other words as we study his word and as we pray to him for help! Simply put, with a master trumpeter holding an instrument that is well tuned and perfectly up kept, the mouthpiece hand picked and the tuning slides placed just right, The music crisp and smooth the lines delicate and bold, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints plays first seat in the section of Christian Churches surrounded by seconds and thirds!

WMI? The Church of Jesus Christ of L

atter-day Saints is the chosen

instrument of Jesus Christ!

Rule #32

Sorry that I missed last weeks blog... It was a hectic week and we were busy getting things back in order! However this week I am back with another lesson! This week with all the stress and hectic things happening I thought back to a quote my mother always used! The one from which this blog was brought forth! She used to say “the most important thing is that the most important thing is the most important thing!” As I have looked back on my life (though it has been short thus far!) I have found this quote to be very true! Some of my favourite memories have been of moments that seemed insignificant at the time however turned out to be life changing!

When I was in elementary school (if you are a blog regular you will remember from "My First Date" that at that time I thought that no one liked me and had a lot of silly self pity! If you are new to the blog..... Welcome to the inner circle of knowledge) well my brother Garth (who went to the junior high up the road, and happened to get out of school an hour earlier than I" used to pick me up and walk me home.... In fact he would even come with lolly-pops to eat while we walked and talked! Looking back that meant a lot to me! It was a little thing but I knew my brother had my back!

Or when I was a little older I had a Saturday paper route! It has about 215 houses if I remember correctly.... Doesn't really matter but it was small enough I could have done it my self, however my mother decided she was going to come out and do it with me every week! My mother had raised 7 children at home and when I got around most were old enough to fend for themselves so she took a job as an assistant at the doctors office! Meaning she had less time at home with us kids! However every Saturday I had an hour of personal one on one time with mom as we delivered papers together! Later on my mother has expressed to me how she always felt bad she had less personal time with me than the other kids (in fact she will probably be less than happy that I am telling the world this story) however I always knew my mom loved me and that I could count on her to be there for me! The paper route was our time and we had some of the most fun times running around delivering papers! I may not have had as much time with mom but I had some of the best times with her!

Almost every weekend my brothers and their wives would gather together on the evening and have their little in home date might thingy.... It wasn't much of a date night because I would normally tag along! We sat in the basement and watched movies, or football, or F1 racing or just sit around and chat with each other (not that we weren't chatting during any of the other activities!) It was just some great times to unwind and have a fun time! Every week I would look forward to having some down time with my brothers.... And their wives.... I have had a lot of fun parties with friends but ones that have ever matched with every weekend with my family!


I love being an uncle. I have 24 nieces and nephews (as far as I am aware.... There may be a few out there that I have forgotten about because I have yet to meet them) some of my favourite memories have been taking time to play with them! Wrestling in the basement was always fun, or watching a kids movie! I enjoyed spending time with them and having fun! Playing sports outside was always a good time! baseball basketball, running around playing tag flying kites or just sitting outside yelling at each other have been fun for us! I have played in many intense basketball games but none were as good as when I was outside with my little buddies!

I have had many many many experiences where I have learned that the most important thing is that the most important thing is the most important thing! So what is most important? I wouldn't be able to tell you really.... But sometimes we find out what seems like a little thing turns out to be something very important!

WMI? TAKE TIME FOR THE LITTLE THINGS!

I Am Canadian!

as a true Canadian I have done some of the most Canadian things there are to be done! Polar dips, snow swimming, hockey on a frozen pond, be emotionally involved during the Stanley Cup Finals, enjoy a wonderful picnic on July 1st and cheerfully get my timmy ho's hot chocolate on my way to work in the morning! Nothing puts me in a better mood than a stadium full of Hockey fans singing "Oh Canada, Our home and Native Land!!" yes I AM CANADIAN! and one of my favourite (yes, Canadians put "U"s in words such as favourite, honour, and neighbour) things to do is go winter camping on Family Day long weekend! winter Camp is one of the best camps there really is! just you and the truth north strong and free out there! I fondly remember my first winter camp!

I remember preparing everything to go to camp weeks before and getting my duffle bag all stuffed the night before we left! it was a long drive into the beaver mines area (yes once again we have entered into the depths of the Rocky Mountains for another Lesson!) we drove in and got everything off the truck! well most of us did that! 2 people were selected to start the fire! they would have to create a fire place, collect dead and dry pine limbs and light a decent fire! the rest of us were to set up camp! construct  a lean-to or a quincy (our sleeping quarters) set up the cooking area! you know, make camp to be our home for the next 4 days! by the time every one had set up camp the fire had also been set a blaze and we were ready for lunch and the beginning of camp! lunch was normally fire roasted hot dogs with chips and a pop! (yes another northern term) (how do you keep drinks cold? no need for coolers, it's winter camp, dig a fridge out of the snow!) some would construct a sauna (two of my brothers served their missions in Finland.... saunas have been adopted into the family tradition) out of a few trees, plastic wrap and pine bows! rocks were collected out of the stream bed and viola, you have a steam room at camp! how would that work you ask? well that is easy! the rocks collected out of the stream sat in the fire all day and collected heat (the black rocks with white specs wouldn't explode and held heat the best) then they were taken out of the fire at night and placed in the little plastic room were benches were lashed up! water was collected in buckets from the stream and ladled onto the stones to create the steam! this would create a sauna even the Fin's could be proud of! then we would get

tobogganing hill set up with it's various runs and jumps! after that the day light was fading and we would have to gather round the fire to dry off and eat dinner! during the night the lean-tos were optimal sleeping arrangements for their optimal use of the fires heat! last person to go to sleep would throw a good sized log on the fire and it would keep everyone warm for the rest of the night! in the morning first one up puts a few logs on the fire and it will catch real quick! that day would be a day of fun! play snow football, or play hockey on the frozen stream! take a few runs down tobogganing hill! and eat as desired! as you shed layers you hung them on the front of your lean-to so they were dried by the fire and didn't become solid Ice! then you go right back to what ever you wanted to do! winter camp was always fairly lax! just keep camp clean and have fun! snow ball fights were not uncommon and nor were was snow stroking after sitting in the steam room (snow stroking is "swimming" (more like rolling) in the snow while your body temperature is high (really really fun to do)) winter camp is crazy fun and one of my favorite things to do! when camp was over everything had to be taken down (common courtesy in Canada is to make the camp brand new for the next people to use it! even if you are in the middle of no where!) the sauna was destroyed, the lean-tos dismantled, everything packed up into the trucks! the last thing to be done was put out the fire!

now, you ask, what lesson has been gathered from this purely Canadian experience? again that is an easy one! (you seem to ask a lot of easy questions in this blog) It's the Fire! allow me to explain! conversion to the Gospel of Jesus Christ has many different parts that are important! many things that will be necessary however those things come second to one other thing! Testimony! the most important aspect of conversion to Christs church is the testimony received through the manifestation of the Holy Ghost! it must be first on our to do list! much like the fire is first on the to do list at winter camp! but more than that! it must be constant! if we only built the fire atthe first and forgot about it until it was needed again, clothes would be Icy, sauna stones would be cold, food would be raw and bed would be frozen! in other words camp would be 0% fun! and 100% unbearable! the fire must be constant, our testimony must be constant! the thing about fire is it takes a lot of work! often times starting out small, very small and slowly being built up! twigs first, sticks next, branches after and logs to follow until a roaring bonfire of testimony burns within our breast! and then we can enter into other important and fun aspects of the gospel! however not to be forgotten is that fire is a hungry beast and must be fed constantly! once a fire is fed logs it refuses to take anything else! it must either be fed more logs or be reduced to a smaller size! the same goes for our testimonies! once we have built it up we must be feeding it more quality and quantity or else it will fade! constant effort is needed to keep it burning within! everything at camp depended on the fire! our testimony must influence all aspects of our lives!

WMI? LIGHT A TESTIMONY, RIGHT NOW!!

Into The Abyss

If you haven't been able to tell yet (or perhaps this is the first time you have read my blog) I love the outdoors and spending time camping, hiking and exploring the vast wildernesses available to me in Southern Alberta have been one of my favourite pass times since..... well as long as I can remember! spending time with friends and family in the mountains has always been a staple activity in my life! some of these mountaineering experiences have been from scout camps!

I remember one scout camp in particular, we started preparing months before and to plan and prepare for the trip! why so long before? we were going to do something we had never done before (I will leave you in the dark for now (that joke will be funnier later on I promise!)) there were skills we had to learn and procedures we had to memorize to ensure our safety! Yes our Scout leaders took us spelunking (Dry Caving)

to prepare for this trip we had to learn specific knots that we would use for specific repels that we would absolutely need and other knots we needed to learn to know how to climb back out in case of emergency that we hoped we would not need! we had to learn other skills and practice them so that they could be used when in the depths of the caves! skills such as repelling, climbing, "squeezing", Scrambling, orienting withing the cave walls! without these skills we would not have been able to get out! we also had to learn how to care for our head lights and change a battery in the dark! each of these skills absolutely individual and important! with all  but one of them we would not have been fully prepared! We practiced these skills during our weekly activity night for months until finally we were prepared and the time came for the camp out!

We packed all our gear and met early in the morning at the church! drove for about 2 hours to the Crowsnest Pass where the trail head was! we hiked up to our base camp and set up camp for the night! the next day we arose bright and early again to enter the cave for the day! another good assent! then we entered the cave! it was fun to walk into the mouth of this cave! it seemed huge! then we left the reach of the day light and found ourselves in a whole different world! stalagmites and stalactites, soda straws and the sound of water with no other evidence thereof! the only light available was our headlamps! it was incredible! eventually we were brought to the first repel sight! a 60 meter decent (if I remember correct) straight down into absolute blackness! here is where we were put to the test! did we know our knots and did we trust ourselves enough to trust the knots we tied! under close supervision provided by our scout master we tied our knots and went over the edge in the abyss! what a thrill! the rush and feeling of repelling into the darkness was indescribable! one by one we all went down (some of the other boys weren't such a fan of the feeling of free falling into the darkness as evidenced by their screaming) and all made it down safely! we continued on scrambling over this passage, squeezing through that gap, climbing over that wall and repelling further and further down! I very much enjoyed the trip, after all I was prepared! however once we got out of the cave (another tight squeeze that took us right through a glacial waterfall!) I overhead some of the other boys complain about how hard it was and how much they didn't like this trip! (I can only assume because they were not prepared)


How much like life here on earth this experience was! we must prepare for it! learn procedures and practice knots! some we will need for sure and others we hope never to use! as we study out the procedures from practice the knots and seek the guidance of our leaders we will be ready for all the challenges that come! challenges will come, that is a fact of life, but we need not face them unprepared! their are experts to listen to, guide books to read and personal experiences to be had! (I think you are smart enough to make unspoken connections to what these things represent!) and when we come out sure we will have little cuts and bruises, perhaps we hit our head a couple times, and maybe we got drenched by the icy waters near the end, however all these things have given us experience and have been for our benefit! I am grateful for my experience in the abyss, it helped me learn to better appreciate the good things in life, but more importantly taught me that the hard things are good things too!

WMI? BE PREPARED! ( IT MAKES THINGS EASIER!)

The Edge

I loved going out and hanging out with my friends! it was a lot of fun for me! We would stay out and play basketball, watch movies, play games or just sit and talk until the wee (or sometimes not so wee) hours of the morning! it was a lot of fun except the fact that they all lived on the other side of town, and I would have to drive to their places for all the fun and festivities! I remember one day (if I remember correct it was a Monday in march (it will be significant latter on I promise)) we were watching basketball and playing games! we continued playing board games, card games, party games! we got really good at  group charades and taboo! not to brag or nothing but the team I was on seemed to be the winning team every time..... coincidence? maybe.... well we continued to have fun as it got later and later! it always seemed to work without fail that every one would decide we would watch one last movie/or episode of a favourite TV show and break after that! and so we did! well when I left my T-shirt and shorts were welcomed outside with a fresh blanket of snow! why was I in a T-shirt and shorts the day had been a nice warm day so I was dressed for that! well I got into my car (actually not my car at all but my parents mini van... but you know close enough) and started to drive off, creating fresh new paths in a blanket of snow (one of my favourite things to do!)

Perhaps this diagram will help!

(stay with me here this next part will be hard to explain!) well what happens when new snow lands on warm pavement..... it melts! (here is where the march part becomes relevant) what happens when melted snow (AKA water) gets cold with more snow on top.... well we call that Ice! so recap, we have the street with a layer of ice on it with a layer of new snow on top of that..... for those of you who don't know what that means I will tell you! that means the roads are s slippery mess! you can't go to slow.... or you get stuck.... but if you go to fast.... you end up in the ditch! (are we all on the same page right now, pretty much i am driving a death machine down an rigged road!) (just wait it gets better) to get home from this particular fiends home I leave the community and take a left turn onto the highway! (keep waiting it gets better) this particular stretch of the highway spanned a coulee (or a really deep ravine)! which would have been okay but it was also under construction so the heavy duty guard rails..... were taken down! (okay another recap death machine, slippery roads, sketchy left turn, and a doom drop sound like fun yet?) well as I was making this turn I started to drift sideways towards this ravine (just so my mother is aware I should mention that No, I was not speeding and Yes I was obeying all traffic laws) I kept on slipping and the thought "this is the end, I am going over the edge and going to die.... this can't be the end! I have so much to do" and yet it seemed to be the end! this all happened in a about 10 seconds of time but seemed to be an eternity! I am not going to say my life flashed before my eyes (that would be a lie) but I will say that I was legitimately concerned about going over the edge into the snow chasm beneath and being there until someone found my dead (or mangled) body the next day! I remember having that panic in my mind until another thought entered "well, I guess now is as good a time as any!" the thought was had for just a few moments and my car (my parents mini van) caught traction and I drove away safely!

the rest of the ride home I reflected on the peace that tangibly entered the car and my body when I caught hold of that thought! It was as real as could possibly be! literally a feeling of love and care! I reflected as to why the thought, "I guess now is as good a time as any" could bring such peace! I was stopped at a red light when it clicked (as I remember the light turned green at the same instant it clicked... so it was my little light bulb moment...... it was pretty cool) the conclusion I came to was that it was faith that overcame fear!(2 Timothy 1:7) I knew I was not perfect but I was certainly doing my part to become better, I believed in the atonement of Christ and knew that as I rely on Christ and did his will all would be right in the end! and so my fear was rectified by faith in Jesus Christ! and that is the way it must be! Faith in Jesus Christ is the antidote for all fear! it is as simple as that! our acting on our beliefs in him is what will bring us peace! my relief came not just from knowing there isn't really a convenient time to die but also because the thought itself was acting on my belief in Gods Promises! Faith by nature is manifest in some sort of an action and in performing that action, whether it is large or small, is what brings the Saviours peace (John 14:27) into our lives! I know that as our faith replaces our fears we become mightier men (and women....the alliteration was better with men...not my fault blame the English language)

WMI? LET YOUR FAITH OVERCOME YOUR FEARS!

Mother Dearest

My mother is amazing, she truly is the most wonderful person on the face of this planet! she always has a smile on her face and a loving word to share! I suppose that is why she could always convince me to do the things I didn't always want to! clean my room, vacuum the basement, or go to the garden! I don't know how she did but with out guilt tripping me she would guilt trip me into doing these things.... yeah make sense of that one! if any of you know how she did it... please notify me, I have yet to figure it out! the worst was the Gardening! I was
all in for the playing in the dirt at the beginning, turning over the soil, planting and building the wind shelters (hurricane force winds are not uncommon where I am from) the squishing off bugs and the harvesting of food (I LOVE FOOD)  but when it came to the constant watering and weeding and all the in between stuff I was less than enthusiastic! In the long run though she ended up winning the battles of will and looking back I learned some of the most valuable lessons in life from the experiences I had in the Garden with her!

Each year we would wait for the snow to melt and the ground to thaw, we would go to our garden plots and dig up and turn over the earth, then add in peat moss, manure, top soil and fertilizer (all organic.... you know healthy kind of way) then we would make out the plan of what was going where this year! How many potato hills we needed, where should the beans go, Do we need more zucchini pants this year (The answer is no, NO you do NOT need any more zucchini!) where are the flowers going to be planted (yes flowers in a vegetable garden.... they attract pollinators) ect ect! with all that planned out we would begin to make rows, and hills, and wind tents! it was quite a production to have 6-7 kids running around trying to help plant a garden..... somehow my parents managed with out any major heart problems for many years (I would like to know their secret) eventually we would have potato hills made in neat little rows, tomato tents up, cucumbers in little milk jugs and beans and peas with trellises to grow on..... it was a pretty good looking garden!

After all that came the hard work.... the daily watering (twice daily sometimes) the weekly weeding (actually it was more than weekly but I liked the sound of the alliteration) the care needed for each plant, miracle grow ect ect! Almost every day of every week my mother called me out of the basement to go to the garden and work! often time she had to call me several times before I would put down what ever I may have been doing! (sometimes she would even have to come down the stairs...those were never the fun times) eventually I was convinced (or compelled) to come and work in the garden! hoeing out the weeds, watering individual cucumber and tomato plants and (my favourite) squishing plump juicy potato bugs! (their guts will turn your entire hand orange! I can't even begin to describe they joy it brought to my heart! SO MUCH FUN!!)

after months of this daily garden up keep we finally got to eat some of the fruits of our hard work! as we needed them vegetables were available, beans, zucchini,  peas, cucumbers, carrots, more zucchini (Even though the answer was always NO NO more zucchini we always planted more than enough Zucchini) and yet the work still wasn't done! even after we started to harvest we still needed to weed, and water, and care for all the plants! so now every day of every week we went to the garden to hoe weeds, water plants, harvest veggies and other up keep! even up to covering the garden with quilts and blankets for frosts (Canada? frost? never... I have seen snow in all 12 months at some point) this would continue until the final harvest. (usually would be when we caught word of the first really bad frost!) we would stay until after dark gathering all the salvageable tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, ect ect! a mass gathering of everything possible! and yet even after the final harvest the work wasn't done! we would have to take down all growing structures, cover up the withered plants for compost and nutrient rich soil. so are we done yet? NOPE, now for the washing, the preparing, the canning, the storage ect ect of all the harvested food! and by the time all that is done we are preparing the soil for next years growing season!

What lesson did I learn from this experience, a Garden doesn't just come to us! I now understand why my mother would strongly encourage me to participate in the yearly gardening, she wanted me to know not only how to prepare soil but prepare my soul! not only how to grow food, but to grow a testimony! not only to reap the fruits of the vine, but the fruits of the True Vine! (John 15:1) there are many people in the gardening world that buy a plot of land and say they have a garden... but they only have the potential for a garden! there are many who plant and say they have a garden.... still just the potential for that garden! others will water and weed at the beginning and say they have a garden and yet still the garden is only there in potential! the same goes with our testimonies, they can only grow and produce fruits by our constant and un wavering labours to keep them healthy! the daily receiving the Living Waters (John 4:10) to constantly bring out the weeds of doubt (Matt 13:7,22) to create the correct environment to cultivate an appropriate atmosphere for the word of life to take root and grow! I am very grateful that my Mother Dearest drilled this into my mind year after year, week after week and day after day! Our work in the garden was the evidence of our faith in the bounty of the final yield! with out the daily effort there would be no long term yield!

WMI? A TESTIMONY IS GROWN ONE DAY AT A TIME!

I Can't Sing

while in my childhood I watched all my brothers play sports! Basketball season, football season, rugby season, volleyball season, ect. ect. I sat in our high school gym (and our field as the case may be) and watched them play whatever it was! naturally I thought I was going to follow, as I have mentioned heretofore I have tried my best to follow in the footsteps of my brothers! alas, I was foiled in my plan when I found a hidden (I am sure if you asked my family it wasn't very hidden) talent! I was asked to participate in Speech and Drama! (if I could sing I am sure I would have enjoyed that but because I can't sing I speak..... (pretty great talent isn't it, I can talk)) I loved my time on stage and the lessons I learned from that time! I learned a great deal about myself in my experiences in the theater! I enjoyed performing and being on stage a great deal, I found more success and joy in these experiences than I ever would have playing on a sports team! (not that don't enjoy time on the court, I still love playing a game of pickup any time) I also have been blessed to know that my family and friends found as much joy as I did watching me on stage!

any way back to the lesson that I wanted to share with you (I honestly could go on for an entire blog post about different thought and feelings I had about the stage. but we will save that for future blogs!) this particular lesson will start with a choice I had to make in high school! a choice I already mentioned in this blog! in grade ten I made the difficult choice for me to take the path of speech and drama over a path of athletics! I love both fields in a great abundance but for the sake of time I had to choose one over the other! and so I ventured down the theatrical side of my life! and how much fun it was! I loved performing Shakespeare, reciting Robert Frost, entertaining with the words of various writers! seeing people laugh, smile, gasp, and even cry while I performed brought great joy to my heart!

while most of my activity in the theater was outside and separate from my schooling  I did eventually audition for my grade 10 (or tenth grade for those of you not from Canada) high school spring play! I had memorized and practiced my monologue and felt very prepared! I got in my audition with the drama teacher and performed to the best of my ability! after answering a few other questions and providing the times I am busy and wouldn't be able to attend rehearsals I was left awaiting a response! a few days later I was sitting in math class and was called down to the main office! I remember going through my week, trying to figure out which assignment I hadn't handed in to which teacher! (if you ask my mom she will tell you that list was much to long to narrow down. and she would be right) when I arrived in the office I saw that Greg, the drama teacher was sitting waiting for me! he commended my audition and asked me about my schedule, he noted that I had marked the entire day for Sunday as unavailable, he asked if that could be adjusted as rehearsals would run on Sunday quite regular! I responded and let him know that Sunday was a special and sacred day where I will not participate in worldly activities on that day! he nodded his head and shook my hand!

I would love to be able to tell you that he respected my decision and despite this action, gave me a role in the cast! such was not the case! the next day the cast was posted in the hall and my name was no where to be found! I would also like to say that things changed in the future and I was permitted a part in later years, again this did not happen! I was a little disappointed... I had heard all these stories where minds were change by such a bold action! I remember wondering if I should have swayed my position a little in order to get a minor role! I remember wondering if I should have played basketball instead! I remained in this state of wondering for about a week, then I got a call from the leader of a local theatrical company, the tale spinners! she asked me if I could spare two hours twice a week and participate with her and the tale spinners! two hours a week on Wednesday and Friday vs. two hours a day seven days a week..... A major role in a group of seven or a minor role in a group of 40...... seemed like an obvious blessing to me that the lord was mindful of my efforts and my choices! (also it should be noted that I enjoyed the script better anyway.... and the members of the cast as well!)

It was reaffirmed to me in this experience that the lord truly does provide a way for us to fulfill his commandments (1st Nephi 3:7) The Sabbath day is a Holy day and there are blessings in keeping it scared! The Lord loves His children and is mindful of their needs and even desires! He wants us to have joy in this life, and will honour our righteous requests as He sees fit! I know that He has been watching over me, and that as I live faithful to Him he will bless me beyond my ability to comprehend!

WMI? Righteous Obedience Opens the Wondows of Heaven!

My First Date

in the past I have heard that I tell stories of my brother, the mountains, and sports to much and it seems like those are all that is in my life! well surprisingly I do have sisters and I love them very much, they have played a very large roll in who I am today! (I sometimes don't give them enough credit) this is one of the lessons my sister Mandy taught me when I was very young!

as a young kid I hadn't learned to be grateful for what I did have yet and often times had a lot of self pity (looking back I had a great childhood and I wouldn't trade it in for anything else) I felt like my brothers were the meanest people on the planet and that they were just out to make my life miserable (again in hindsight they put up with a lot and were AMAZING older brothers!) I felt bullied at school (I laugh at my 8 year old self now, things were really not all that bad... for some reason I built it up in my mind the world was out to get me!) in short I felt like nobody loved me and that I was all alone! (the hard life of those in elementary school)

I remember that I was spending time with Mandy in the house, what we were doing I have no idea but I remember I was having fun! For some reason or another my sister called two of my older brothers (Garth and Colin) outside to go on a drive with her! We all rushed toward our old blue car, Hefty! (it may have been the 5th ninja turtle, Lanny, (a green hatchback) the other car of my childhood, but which it was is of little consequence (I really just wanted to share with you the awesome car names I grew up with)) when we got to the car my brothers called out for shotgun. I was ready to take the back seat! Mandy stopped them and said that she was going on a date with me! I was excited mostly because I GOT TO SIT IN THE FRONT SEAT! I don't remember much about the drive, I do remember two things we listened to a mixed CD of sappy songs my sister had made up, and we went to Dairy Queen and got chocolate dipped ice cream cones! I felt so special and really loved spending time with my sister that day! from that day forth I knew she always had my back, even to this day! I knew that no matter what my sister was there for me even if I thought no one else was! I still can trust my sister and come to her if I need help with this question or that problem.

As I have grown up I have learned that I have so many people that have my back! My Sisters, my Mother, my Father, my Brothers, my nieces, my nephews, my friends, and on and on and on the list goes! my bishop, my young men leader, my mission companion, my mission president, and more and more! however above all the rest I know there is one greater than all of these that has my back! I know that Jesus Christ has got my back! He knows our individual needs and our individual situations. how does he know? because "he [has gone] forth, suffering pains and afflictions and of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. And he [has taken] upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities." (Alma 7:11-12) Jesus Christ has experienced our hardships and knows how we feel! so what? well, that means there is someone to turn toward, someone who can "take you out on a date" and make lift you up! there is someone who will always be there when you need advice on this problem or that question! Christ will sit us in the front seat, give us his attention and listen to us, ALWAYS! me that makes all the difference, knowing that there is someone who knows me perfectly and can help me in the way that fits me best!

WMI? WE ARE NEVER EVER ALONE!