On my iPad, I have a folder for all the apps that I don't ever use /
aren't allowed to use. My companion does too, and he named his folder
"Babylon." In similar fashion, I have named mine "Great & Spacious."
My companion and I were praying the other night, and the quiet
supplication "Dear Heavenly Father" caused me pause. How tender are
our supplications to the Father! The chance we have to pray to Him and
to talk about what happened that day! It's so cool! One of the things
that sets us apart as a church is that we believe the heavens are
opened and that God speaks to and helps man! That's so cool! Praying
with a specific question and listening for answers is the best, man.
(Sometimes in my prayers, I openly and verbally admit to Father that I
don't remember my investigators' names, and apologize profusely. I
think he forgives me.)
We were listening to a talk in the car the other day, and it talked
about looking at the past and using it to help us in the future. The
talk giver person (speaker! Use your words, Stephen) discussed the
Roman god Janus, who had two faces (I am Two-Face! I have two faces!).
With one face, he looked into the past, and with the other he would
look into the future. I want to make sure that I can look backwards
into my past triumphs and mistakes to help me to excel in the future.
In a different General Conference talk (I'm trying to read them all
from 1971 to 2016), well, I'll just copy and paste it for you:
"This philosophy of excellence was demonstrated by the artist
Whistler, who once painted a tiny picture of a spray of roses. The
artistry involved was magnificent. Never before, it seemed, had the
art of man been able to execute quite so deftly a reproduction of the
art of nature. The picture was the envy of the artists who saw it, the
despair of the collectors who yearned to buy it for their collections,
but Whistler refused steadfastly to sell it.
“For,” said he, “whenever I feel that my hand has lost its cunning,
whenever I doubt my ability, I look at the little picture of the spray
of roses and say to myself, ‘Whistler, you painted that. Your hand
drew it. Your imagination conceived the colors. Your skill put the
roses on the canvas.’ Then,” he said, “I know that what I have done I
can do again.” "
I really like that. I hope that I can look back whenever I feel down
and know what to do going forward.
So, deer are a major problem on the road out here. As in, hitting
them. Elder Berrett has swerved twice to avoid deer on the road. One
such instance was at night, as Elder Berrett was telling a story about
him and his friend Dani, and just after I had half-reclined my seat to
rest my eyes and attempt to alleviate a minor headache I had. Nearly
immediately afterward, I was jolted to alertness as the car swerved to
avoid seven deer at various stages of crossing the road. After
recovering from that shock (sort of), Elder Berrett was telling me
another story. Somewhere along the lines of that story I realized that
he was talking to me, and said "Elder Berrett, repeat everything you
just said. My mind was half on the deer and half on Dani." So that's
our new phrase whenever we're out of it and not paying attention to
anything. "Half on the deer and half on Dani."
I love you all. Keep being awesome, alright?
-Elder Burch π
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| *British voice* I think I'll call this one "Mail Percy." |
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