Finding Peace in March Madness

Once again we are coming to the end of the great NCAA tournament season known as March Madness. We are down to the top two teams Virginia and Texas Tech. Along the way there were several Cinderella teams that upset the teams that were supposed to make it all the way to the end of the “big dance”. Seven of the games were decided by one or two points. Four games went into over time before a winner was decided.

I did not see all of the games during the tournament, but I did watch my share. Some games were extremely exciting, and others were well boring. Much of the madness comes from the broken brackets (the odds of picking a perfect bracket are 9.2 quintillion), lost time at work watching games (l love the “boss button” on the NCAA web site), watching players do stupid things - they are only 18-20+ year old kids what do you expect?, mistakes by referees, stupid fans, and annoying announcers and analysts.

One of the best examples of the effects of March Madness was found two years ago when 12 year old John Phillips was caught on camera having a melt down as Northwester lost their game to Gonzaga.

John Phillips, the Northwestern Crying Kid

One of the things I noticed this time was I never heard coaches or players make excuses or blame others for their loss. Maybe I just did not see the right interviews, but I did not see any. I was especially impressed by Bruce Pearl, the coach of Auburn, after their 1-point loss to Texas Tech in their semi-final game. During a post-game interview, the interviewer seemed to be trying to get the coach to blame the referee for their loss and he would not do it, taking full responsibility for Auburn’s loss. I also never hear any of the players during the tournament take credit for their victories but instead included the entire team in the win. I like the class the players and coaches showed this year.

This weekend was not only the semi finals for the NCAA Men’s Division I Tournament, but it was also the 189^th annual general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. These two events seem to come at the same time every year. I would have like to have been a fly on the wall in the room where the presiding authorities were discussing which conference they would have the priesthood meetings and which one would have the general women’s meetings. It seems the sisters won the discussion because they get to stay home and watch the semi final games while the brethren of the church attend the general priesthood session. If you want to see my solution to this problem check out one of my past blogs from April 1, 2017 “Historic Agreement between the LDS Church and the NCAA” (yes, it was an April Fools Post).

Sessions from general conference had some great advice on how to find peace in the madness of the world around us. Here are a few thoughts that impressed me:

Becky Craven, 2^nd Counselor in the General Young Women’s Presidency said there is a casual way to live the gospel of Jesus Christ and there is a careful way to live it. We should not live it casually. There is no right way to not live the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Brook P. Hales, of the Seventy, reminded us that sometimes our prayers are answered quickly and in the way we want. Sometimes they are not answered immediately or in the way we expect and sometimes they are not answered at all in this life. We must have faith to know the answers will eventually come.

President Eyring, 2^nd Counselor in the First Presidency, warned us of the pattern of decline of the people after the Savior visited the people in America and they then experienced almost 200 years of peace and prosperity. The signs of decline are:

1.     Pride

2.     Classes – no longer having their goods in common

3.     Increased sin

He said that increasing our faith in Jesus Christ and his servants is the best way to counter act a society that is in decline.

Sharon L. Eubank, 2^nd Counselor in the General Relief Society Presidency, said that Satan is trying hard to isolate us and cut us off from the source of light and wants us to think that we are the only ones that are experiencing difficulties. If we feel our flame of testimony fluttering, have faith that Christ’s light will sustain us. He is the source of truth and light.

D. Todd Christofferson, of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, said that we must do all we can to end suffering and prepare for the time when suffering will be done away when the Savior, Jesus Christ comes again.

Elder Rasband, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, said that our testimony in Jesus Christ is our greatest defense again evil.

President Russell M. Nelson, president of the church, spoke in the priesthood session about the importance of repentance, that it is not a one thing and done situation. Repentance is not an event; it is a process. We need to prayerfully seek to know what is stopping us from repenting and fix it. In his Sunday address he said that salvation is an individual matter, but exaltation is a family matter. If we want to have the opportunity to be with our family fall all eternity; pay the price now!

Anyone that knows me, will agree that I love everything about March Madness, at least the NCAA tournament, but I do not like that madness in the world around us. It seems that this madness is growing at an ever-increasing rate. Watching the sessions of general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints helps me find peace in March (and other times of the year) Madness around us. The peace that the Savior Jesus Christ can give is the only answer for the wickedness in today’s world. We can have peace now and hope that when the Savior does return the madness will end forever. Until then at least we can enjoy the madness found in March and the NCAA Tournament.

Your questions and comments are welcome.

The Road Trip

Recently my wife went on a trip to Canada to visit her family.  She drove from Logan, Utah to Prince Albert, Saskatchewan (Central, SK); to Red Deer (above Calgary), Alberta; to Kalowna, British Columbia (South East B.C.); to Vancouver Island on the East coast of B.C; to Olympia, Washington, then a stop in Boise, Idaho to spend the last night with my brother, and finally back to Logan, Utah. The trip was more than 3200 miles and took her three weeks. To plan for the trip we got on Google maps and plotted her course and I showed her how to use the GPS on her iPhone. She also had a stand-alone GPS system and she had even purchased an Atlas so she could use the physical maps as she went. We thought we had planned every detail so she would not have any problems getting to each of her destinations, or so we thought.

As soon as she crossed the border into Canada, her iPhone stopped working; not because of the carrier but because her iPhone was an older model and the type of phone she had did not work in Canada. She no longer had access to the technology she needed to get her from one place to the next – her GPS. When she tried to use the stand alone GPS, the maps were out of date and did not have the correct maps for Canada. She only had the Atlas to help her find her way and those maps did not have the detail she needed when she got into the towns to find her way to her family’s homes. Fortunately, she did know her way around Prince Albert her first destination because she grew up there and her family still lived on the family farm that she was raised on so all she needed to do was get to Prince Albert and she was fine.

Though inconvenient the loss of her iPhone was as big of a problem as I thought. When she got to her first stop she was able to call her family at then next stop and get directions and she was able to call me each day and let me know how the trip was going. Since cells phones are only about 30 years old and we both are older than that we know what it is like to travel without one. It was inconvenient but not impossible.

On her second leg of the trip from Prince Albert to Red Deer in Alberta, she ran into the next problem – no road signs. Even though she had the names of the streets she was supposed to turn on, the streets were not marked and she ended up on a three-hour side tour of Alberta before she found her way to Red Deer. The side tour ended up being quite the adventure because a very large Moose (as she described it) ran across the road in front of her car and then she came across a flock of Snow Canadian Geese that she thought was absolutely beautiful.

While there were several adjustments that needed to be made because of the technical difficulties she managed to make it to each destination and have a wonderful time visiting family and friends and eventually made it back home safely. It was a trip she will always remember.

This is not the first time we have experienced problems with GPS technology. A few years ago I went on a trip to Chicago for some training for work and my wife went with me. One day while I was in meetings she decided to go to the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. I programed the GPS with the address to the museum which was on Lake Shore Drive. She took off and I went to my meeting. About two hours later she called me and asked how long it was supposed to take to get to the museum. I said about 45 minutes. When she told me she was still not there I asked what the last sign was that she passed. She told me Des Moines, Iowa; she was headed back to Salt Lake City! I told her to click on the return to start button and head back to the hotel. When she got back I looked at the GPS and even though I thought I had put in Lake Shore Drive, Chicago; it had defaulted to Lake Shore Drive, Utah. Needless to say I still have a distrust of GPSs and their accuracy.

We can compare my wife’s road trip to our time here in mortality. There is a purpose for our birth here at this time. We did not just pop into existence when we were born and we will not cease to exist after we die. We lived before this life as spirit children of our Heavenly Father and he provided a plan whereby we could come here and gain physical bodies, develop faith in him and His Son, Jesus Christ; learn to keep the commandments he gave us; and receive the ordinances that would enable us to return to his presence and live with him eternally. Our lives do not end at death, they will go on but the type of life we have there will depend on the roads we travel and if we follow the proper route that will get us to the final destination – back to Heavenly Father’s presence.

Many people have no idea what their destination is, they are just driving along taking whatever road they think looks interesting. Others may know the destination but have no idea which road to take; they have no functioning GPS, their GPS does not have the correct maps, their Atlas does not have the detail they need,  or there are no road signs to follow. Others may think that they are on the right road and are listening to the GPS directions but do not realize they are in reality headed to the wrong “Lake Shore Drive”, they get lost on a three-hour diversion because they think they know the directions and don’t listen to the GPS, or they are not following the maps or the directions that they were given.

All roads do not lead to Heaven and the Savior has said that the way is straight and narrow. If we do not follow the correct route we may find that when we arrive at our final destination that it was not where they wanted to go. Michael Goodman speaking to the students of BYU said: “We are here on earth to learn what we need to learn so that we can become what we are intended to become and return to the presence of our loving Heavenly Father and Mother for eternity". (“Become a Seeker: They Way, the Truth, and the Life”) In other words we need to know what roads will take us on our road trip that will lead us back to that destination to live with Heavenly Father and we must avoid the side roads that will only lead us away from that destination.

The Lord has not sent us here without the proper directions to get us back home to him. He has given us a variety of GPS instruments, maps, and other things to help us along the way. They come to us through the scriptures, living prophets, Apostles, and other church leaders, our family, friends. He has provided commandments as road signs to follow to keep us safe and provided us the Holy Ghost to help us stay on the right road or to warn us if we make the wrong turn. He has provided all of the ordinances that will qualify us to return and live with him.

Eventually like my wife we will all return home from our road trip. If we use the “technology” that the Lord has provides us we will arrive at the proper destination safely.

Your comments and questions are welcome. 

Keep Your Eye on the Ball

I was watching three different football games yesterday, one youth football game that my grandson was playing in and two college games. My eleven-year-old grandson plays wide receiver. He caught one pass and dropped another one that should have been an easy catch. I can say that as a grandparent on the sideline not having ever played football. The catch he made was with fairly good coverage for eleven-year-olds so it showed he had the skills to make catches under pressure. The catch he dropped he was open and had beaten his defender. Had he caught that pass he would have run for a touchdown.

The two college games I watched were USU against the Air Force and BYU against West Virginia. Both games were close and exciting. There were many plays that resulted in spectacular plays from all the teams and there were plays that had players on the stands and those watching on TV screaming, how could you miss that catch? Why is it that receivers seem to be able to make the catches while defenders are hanging all over them but drop the passes when they are open and there is nothing between them and the goal? I think the answer is that they took their eyes off the ball and were already thinking of heading for the easy touchdown.

When they catch the difficult passes while covered it is because they are focused on the ball and not the defenders, they don’t lose focus on the goal to catch the ball. When coverage is not there or the pass is easy and they lose focus and are thinking of where they are going next, to score a touchdown or get a first down, they forget to catch the ball. I heard one of the coaches during a pregame interview say that every offensive play they have, except for one or two, is designed to end in scoring points. If you think about it that is true. There are a few exceptions like spiking the ball to stop the clock, punting on 4^th down, taking the knee to run out the clock. Why would a play be designed to do anything else but score? So why don’t plays always end up scoring? Things don’t always go the way they plan; someone fails to do their part in executing the play or the defense may have done a better job in doing what they were supposed to do, keep the offense from scoring.

Football teams have many short and long term goals. Some short term goals focus on getting a first down, scoring a touchdown or field goal. Defenders have goals to stop the next run, sacking the quarterback, Intercepting a pass. There are also other goals to win this game, the next game to have a winning season, to win the conference championship, or go to and win a bowl game. But their focus is on the next play or this game. Whenever the media ask a coach about a game that is one or two games away the coach always responds that they are focusing on the next game, not one later.

Life is like this in many ways. Our lives are busy and we have many goals that we are trying to achieve. The members of my LDS ward are all students at Utah State University and all of them hope to graduate and get their dream job. Because our ward is for married students, all of them have achieved the goal to find someone they love and that love them and get married.  Now they are focused on the classes they are taking this semester with the end goal in mind to graduate.

For many students the goal of graduating and getting that full-time job is the end goal. It is hard to think past that. Those of us that are looking back realize that graduating is just the beginning, there are many more exciting things to look forward to. But for now it is important for these students to focus on the short term goals and not just the end of the game.

No matter where we are in our lives, students, parents, empty nesters, retirees we all need short and long term goals. We focus on the short term knowing the long term ones will be achieved if the short term goals are taking us in the direction we need to go to achieve our long term goals.

Keeping our eyes on the ball, our short term goals, will ensure we don’t drop the easy passes. There will be times that even when it seems that it is an easy pass we will drop the ball. What do we do? We get up admit we made a mistake and try harder to catch the next one.

During one of the pregame interviews they were interviewing a senior and he was talking about during football season it never seems to end but it quickly does and then all of a sudden four years has gone and they are playing in their final season and they don’t want it to end. But it eventually does and they graduate and move on.

So it is with our lives. We focus on daily goals, yearly goals, career goals, etc. and then all too soon you are looking back and wondering what happened? Where will you be in 40-50 years? Are the goals you have set and are focusing on going to take you to where you want to be at that time of your life?

Remember to keep your eye on the ball, don’t lose focus of those things that are important right now in your life. But also make sure that the goals you are working for will eventually help you achieve the ultimate goal we all should have, that is to have eternal families, keep God’s commandments, be cleansed of all our sins, and be worthy to return to live as families with our Heavenly Father and his Son Jesus Christ.

Your comments and questions are welcome.

Enter to Learn--Go Forth to Serve

There is a sign at the main entrance to Brigham Young University that reads: “Enter to Learn--Go Forth to Serve”. As a student at BYU this theme was an important goal for each of us. We were there to do more than obtain a degree. We were to learn as much as we could about a variety of subjects so that when we left the university we not only were qualified for a career in our chosen fields, but that we would be contributing citizens of our cities, states and countries. We were also there to increase our knowledge of where we had come from, why were here in mortality and where we were going after we die. We were to learn how to be contributing members of the Kingdom of God on the earth and qualify for life in the Kingdom of Heaven. Although only a few students attend BYU, we all are on a journey in this life that did not start when we were born. We have all been sent here by our Heavenly Father to learn and then go forth to serve.

Abraham was shown in vision of the spirits in the premortal life and their purpose in this life:

Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones;

And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born.

And there stood one among them that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell;

And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;

And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever. (Abraham 3:22-26)

We lived as spirits with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ before we were born here on this earth. They created this earth for us to come and prove ourselves worthy to return back to live with them again. One of the principles that we are to learn here in this life is to obey God’s commandments. Speaking of the importance of our preparation to meet God again after we die the Book of Mormon Prophet Alma said:

Yea, I would that ye would come forth and harden not your hearts any longer; for behold, now is the time and the day of your salvation; and therefore, if ye will repent and harden not your hearts, immediately shall the great plan of redemption be brought about unto you.

For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.

And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed. (Alma 34:31-33)

One of the difficulties in our preparation to meet God again is knowing where to look to learn the way back. Elder L. Tom Perry speaking to a group of BYU students said:

Without waiting to find out the true meaning of life, many young people jump to conclusions and embark on their life journey unprepared. They follow the traffic without a road map, and, not surprisingly, all they find along the way is disappointment. What do you need to learn before you go forth to serve?

The scriptures tell us that “it is impossible for a man to be saved in ignorance” (D&C 131:6). This principle is greatly misunderstood. Elder John A. Widtsoe wrote:

There are of course many kinds of knowledge; some of lesser, some of higher value. When Joseph Smith said that a man cannot be saved in ignorance, he meant naturally ignorance of the laws which all together lead to salvation. Such knowledge is of the highest value. It should be sought after first. Then other kinds of knowledge may be added to support and amplify the more direct knowledge of spiritual law. [Evidences and Reconciliations, arr. G. Homer Durham (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1987), p. 224]

What he inferred is there must needs be an order to our learning, the same order indicated by the Savior’s teaching: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33). Learning about sacred things should come first, providing a context and a need for secular learning. If we want to return to our Heavenly Father’s presence, our first priority should be to learn about his ways and his plan.

The world might fool you into believing there is insufficient time to engage in both spiritual and secular learning. I warn you not to be deceived by these philosophies of men. Your learning about sacred things will facilitate, even accelerate your secular learning. (“Enter to Learn—Go Forth to Serve”, Elder L. Tom Perry, BYU Fireside, March 5, 1995)

Once we have learned what we need to do to return to our Heavenly Father and be worthy to live with him as eternal families, we are then responsible to teach others how to fulfill their earthly mission. Elder Perry continued:

After we learn all we can about the course we must follow and have proceeded on the path to gain eternal life, we have an obligation to others of our Father in Heaven’s children who need help. . .

There are those among us today that preach the doctrine of “me-ism.” They declare that we should think of ourselves first and foremost and above all else. History, however, has taught that selfishness has never brought happiness. An important part of life is serving and sharing. Certainly the soul-satisfying joy of life is leaving a legacy of love and service for others to emulate and enjoy. Bryant S. Hinckley said this about service:

Service is the virtue that distinguished the great of all times and which they will be remembered by. It places a mark if nobility upon its disciples. It is the dividing line which separates the two great groups of the world—those who help and those who hinder, those who lift and those who lean, those who contribute and those who only consume. How much better it is to give than to receive. Service in any form is comely and beautiful. To give encouragement, to impart sympathy, to show interest, to banish fear, to build self confidence and awaken hope in the hearts if others, in short—to love them and to show it—is to render the most precious service. [Quoted by Steven R. Covey, First Things First (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1994), p. 306] (“Enter to Learn—Go Forth to Serve”, Elder L. Tom Perry, BYU Fireside, March 5, 1995)

King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon taught the importance of service when he taught:

And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.

Behold, ye have called me your king; and if I, whom ye call your king, do labor to serve you, then ought not ye to labor to serve one another? (Mosiah 2:17-18)

The Savior speaking to his disciples emphasized the importance of service to others when he said:

Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. (Matthew 25:34-40)

I know that as we follow the example of the Savior and lose ourselves in serving others and helping them learn what they need to do to return with honor to our Heavenly Father we are fulfilling the Lord’s promise to Abraham that if we keep this second estate and we will qualify for eternal life.

By entering this life to learn and then going forth to serve we fulfill this challenge and live with our families eternally.

Your comments and questions are welcome.