Farewell to "our" Prophet

With the recent passing of President Gordon B. Hinckley I began to take stock of the role that his example has played in my life. One of my friends said that President Hinckley meant so much to him because he was the prophet during the period in his life when his testimony came of age and began to mean something to him. I have to completely agree with that. He has been the prophet during just about every milestone in my life. He will be sorely missed.

So I’ve begun the process of looking through old journals and conference talks, highlighting certain themes that have resonated with me through my various journeys and struggles. Above all there is one moment that stands out in my life. The time that he made a surprise visit to my mission.

I had been out for about a year. We were notified that Elder Holland was going to make a visit to one of the cities in the mission and speak. For several weeks we made an effort to publicize the event and organize caravans to the sort of distant town of Edinburg, some 5 hours away. To be honest I remember that the response to the invitation was somewhat tepid. It seemed like a long way for people to be driving. After much effort we were able to get 3 or 4 buses prepared for the journey. I remember being somewhat disappointed that we couldn’t get many people signed up for the trip. I also remember being very excited to hear an apostle in my remote part of the vineyard and for the chance to run into a few mission buddies.

The weekend of the event arrived. The missionaries left early so that we could attend a special training session with Elder Holland and Busche that Saturday night. The ride down almost felt like a road trip. A bunch of young men working to suppress the world and focus on missionary work. Soon enough the conversation drifted towards girls, life back home, and other conversations from a distant world that we no longer belonged to. There was almost a feeling of spring break amongst us; a brief respite from our hard efforts.

We arrived in McAllen late that afternoon and were quickly shuttled off to the nearest Stake Center for training. I’m sure that our leaders were somewhat frustrated because we were so eager to renew old acquaintances rather then to learn. Quickly gossip started to spread that the Prophet was going to be present for the big speech in the morning. I quickly dismissed the gossip because it was coming from the same Elders who gossiped about everything and anything. The leaders soon got a hold of the situation and we were caroled into the meeting room.

As soon as we sat down something changed. I remember feeling a palpable and tangible energy. It was a buzz that caused my heart to speed up and hair to stand on end. The rumors of a visit from President Hinckley persisted….but now they seemed real. We began to sing hymns in anticipation of the arrival of Elder Holland. We probably sang 10 hymns in a row. It didn’t matter because all of us felt this incredible energy.

And then all of the sudden we caught a glimpse of an old familiar face entering in through a back door. Without hesitation we stood up and sang in unison, “We Thank Thee o God for A Prophet”. I have never sung with that much emotion or conviction. I couldn’t help but weep with joy. I looked around and everyone else was in the same exuberant emotional state that I was as well.

He took to the podium and called the meeting to order. The first thing that he wanted to do was to meet us all in person. For the next 20 or so minutes we all walked outside into the foyer and were able to shake his hand and say hello. It was an absolutely incredible experience.

The evening carried on and I was completely enveloped by his presence. I don’t remember exactly what he said or what doctrine he shared. I know that he offered some kind words of encouragement. He could have been speaking about Kolob for all I cared. It was the feeling that I will remember. It was on that night that my testimony of living Prophets became cemented.

I have heard him speak several times and even interacted with him on a couple of occasions but nothing will ever come close to that evening while I was a missionary. I have never felt feelings like that with that kind of intensity ever since.

I don’t laud or admire President Hinckley just because he wore the mantel of Prophet. His character alone demands adulation irregardless of his standing within the church. He was so approachable, so wise, and so kind, so giving. In short he was the kind of person that you would, without hesitation, be proud to associate yourself with. He was my Prophet in the very same way that he was your Prophet. It seemed like we all had a personal relationship with President Gordon B Hinckley.

Revised Song

This is a song that I posted awhile ago but was still rough. I like version better but there are still a couple of issues. I had three guitars layered and there are spots in which they don't synch. I think that all of the guitars might detract a little bit from the bleak mood that the song is trying to evoke.

Click here to watch 'I-had-a-dream-and-it-wouldnt-end-17'

What's your carbon footprint?

I'm currently doing some consulting work that has me evaluating the viability of certain solutions that can assist corporations in becoming more "green". Among those is the much ballyhooed solution called "telepresence" that is being trumpeted by Cisco and HP. Both of these companies, duly noted, are both actively selling their solutions to companies willing to spend millions of dollars for super nice video conferencing capabilities.

Anyways, I have read a number of articles discussing green initiatives such as "carbon footprint" reduction. And the more I read the more I come to the following conclusions:

• Generally speaking, everyone supports and is behind green initiatives. It's a very popular talking point for progressive companies.
• Specifically speaking, very few companies make decisions with the environment as their principle concern. But when action that impacts the environment is taken it is primarily for issues pertaining to the bottom line such as cost reduction.

This leads me to believe that the free market not altruist ideas will drive the next rounds of environmental changes. Companies will issue less plane tickets and replace them with teleconferencing not because of their desire to see a greener planet but rather their desire to keep their jobs by maintaining a healthy bottom line. The fact that these kinds of "business driven" activities benefit the environment just allows companies one more arrow in their public relations quiver to help expound their high levels of corporate responsibility to the consumer.

I definitely don't begrudge capitalism, in fact I actively participate it. I also don't begrudge environmentalist, in fact I try to do my part to help out. I'm just glad to observe a situation like this were we see that both interests can be served.

How 'bout dem Cowboys?

Well the bottom quickly fell off the good ship Cowboys this past week. I'm still coming to grips with the fact that the season is over and all I have to look forward to now is asking "what if" and analyzing stats of obscure players for the upcoming draft.

For some reason the Cowboys have been plagued with a couple of criticle weaknesses these past few years. These weaknesses have not been covered up by the superior atheletes on the team. They were present under the highly controlled and strict Parcells regime and they were also evident under the laid back leadership of Wade Phillips. In my humble opinion, the Cowboys won't be able to step into the football Pantheon that the Patriots are currently hanging out in until these are corrected.

1) Penalties- In the two biggest loses of the year (Patriots and Giants) the Boys had multiple drives killed by penalities, particularly holding or offsides. This forced the Cowboys into 3rd and long situations that limited play calling. We have a very powerful line but we need to play as a complete unit. Hats off to the Patriots because they do.

2) Discipline- This one stems from the coach I believe. This is the other sucky edge of the sword that gave Phillips and the Boys their early success. They were loose and won during the early going. But come December and playoff time they didn't have the discipline to ratchet up the intensity. As a result we had costly penalties (think Davis mauling Ominura during Giants game) There aren't enough strong personalities in the locker room to keep players in check and keep them from being complacent. Once again the Patriots are successful largely because they are the most disciplined bunch of the lot.

3) Distraction- Holywood starlets, stupid comments by players, etc....These things distract players and create posterboard materials for the opposition. Take a lot at the damn Patriots. Their benign and politically correct statements give nothing to their opponents to use. Everything is kept in house and you never hear discussion about the Brazilian bombshells that Brady is dating.

4) Defensive Secondary- This one is more on the schemes employed. The Cowboys high pressure pass rush dictates that CB's play in tight man to man or bump coverage. This prevents the QB from dropping the ball off to his hot receiver. But for some reason the Cowboys played with a big enough cushion that would make the princess and the pea jealous. We were too worried about giving up the deep ball that we let teams nickel and dime us with the short pass. This is a huge concern and it needs to be addressed in the draft.

All in all we are so close. It will be difficult to replicate a 13-3 season but we have the talent to pull it off. We need to take care of the intangibles. These are the things that seperate the champions from the chumps. These are the reasons why the Patriots are what they are.

One more mystery. Why didn't the Cowboys get TO involved in the 2nd Half? The Giants secondary was completely depleted and ripe for the picking.

Engagement Photos....You Decide

Over the Christmas break my sister kindly shot some Engagement photos for us. Several forced smiles and a long afternoon later we wound up with about 100 great shots of us.

The problem is that we are now having a hard time deciding on which photo to select. Here are some finalists...what say ye?

U2 with a sense of humor?

I always thought that U2 didn't introduce irony and humor into their act until the Zoo TV tour. This little gem from 1987 at least proved that the young U2 tried.




Speaking of a sense of humor. U2 letting Axl Rose peform with them. Now that's funny.

The thrill of the chase

Back in November we decided on Rome for our honeymoon. But those well intentioned thoughts quickly hit a brick wall with the realization that the dollar is as weak as Estelle Getty on a 3 day fast and international flight costs that go into the thousands of dollars. Undaunted and without a skymile to my name I ploughed forward. Our quest to spend our honeymoon in the company of Popes, Ceasars, and Gypsies was to be an uphill battle.

I've literally spent the last 3 months poring over countless travel search engines. I've looked at every possible scenario and every viable date. Some of the interesting insights:

• Affordable travel to Europe, particularly Rome, needs to be done in March at the latest. Between April and September the prices go up around 50%. These high prices carry on through Labor Day.


• Consider traveling to another cheaper city in Europe and then using a cheap regional carrier like Ryannair. In our case we will be flying through Frankfurt. Can you say Schznitzel?


• The best site for international travel that we found was http://www.vayama.com/. Easy to use, straight forward, transparent, and legitimate.

All in all we came away with two tickets to Rome for under a grand. My patience and perservanace paid off. That is quite a feat in this day and age of increase fuel taxes and ever increasing airline fees.

With this big initial road block out of our way we can now focus our attentions to Gelato, Trevi, David, and St Peter.

You don't get this in Iowa

Why do I quite enjoy the 11 hour drive from Phoenix to Salt Lake City? Sites like this, my friend, sites like this.