EPIPHANY

We all have those moments when something becomes very clear and we wonder why it never occurred before.  Once in a while, I have those as I read the scriptures.

The other night I was reading the Book of Mormon and pondering some of the things Moroni taught in chapter 7 of his book.  I love these verses because there are so many practical applications that keep me out of trouble.

In the middle of considering faith and some of its ramifications I noticed an idea that had passed by me all the times I had read these verses before.  It was in the middle of a discussion on another topic, sort of hidden amongst the trees and more like an aside put in by Moroni.  As many times as I have read the Book of Mormon, I never noticed this delicious tidbit found in Moroni 7:27-28:

Wherefore, my beloved brethren, have miracles ceased because Christ hath ascended into heaven, and has sat down on the right hand of God, to claim of the Father his right of mercy which he hath upon the children of men?  For he hath answered the ends of the law, and he claimeth all those who have faith in him; and they who have faith in him will cleave unto every good thing; wherefore he advocateth the cause of the children of men; and he dwelleth eternally in the heavens.

I know that some of you will say, “Duh, Mike, how come you don’t know that?”  A part of me DOES know that but I have never seen it or felt is so clearly stated in the scriptures.

This profound little statement gives me a better view of the Atonement and the power it has to save the souls of mankind.

Christ suffered for all our trials, sins, weaknesses, etc. (Alma 7:11-13) , not because He wanted to look cool or have some big blessing, but so that He could claim us as His when the time for choosing arrived.  Without His mercy and love, we would be left to the powers of the adversary and would become subject to his will.  Jesus will ‘advocate’ with the Father, against Lucifer, for the souls of God’s children.  All who will allow Him, will find relief from the torments of the evil one.  Those who deny His redeeming power will find themselves outside the power of His mercy.

If ever there was a miracle (the subject Moroni was considering when this came out), this is the greatest of all.  A God who cares enough about His people to come and prepare a way for their redemption.  What a message we have as Christians and members of the Kingdom of God on Earth.

I know that my Redeemer Lives!!

Buzz, Buzz Confessions

This is one of those confession blogs that I seem to feel a need to give from time-to-time.  There are lots of things in life that are hidden away inside us and eventually they have to come out. J

The other day I received a call from my lovely wife, asking me to go to Brian’s house cause Paula was having a problem.  I couldn’t get there for a while so when I arrived, Brian had things well in hand.

Earlier that day Paula noticed some strange activity in her backyard and spent some time watching out the back window.  This is similar to what she saw—

Swarming Bees

A small swarm of bees

Eventually there were 40,000+ bees hanging out on Brian & Paula's little tomato garden. They called a beekeeper guy and he hurried over and gathered all the little folk into a hive and saved that branch of the Whitmer family from annihilation (or at least Freak-out-ation).  

Here's Brian's Swarm -- cool eh!!

All my life I have loved watching colonizing insects as they did their work.  When I was a boy I would sneak out into the desert and watch the anthills and imagine what it must be like down inside.  Sometimes I would give in to temptation and dig into the colony and try to find the queen.  It was all very fascinating to me!!

Nice Hole for Ants

More like what we had in AZ.

I had the same attraction to bees --- except, they were even more fun.  I think part of it was the challenge of not getting stung while I watched their work. 

Cute little fellas

But another part was a deep love for something that could be so organized and complete as a community.  Everything this little group of individuals did was for the benefit of the group.  No selfishness, no personal gratification, and no seeking for higher position.  Everyone did their job and if it meant that you were doomed to die because the queen needed your life, you willingly gave all you had. 

Maybe my heart knew this was the way the world should/could be if everyone followed the ways of Christ.  The parallel is not exact but if we are to ever live in a Zion society, we will have to learn to live like other people mean more to us than what we want for ourselves. 

Without bees there would be no fruits

To be honest, this is the first time I have really made this connection and I think this idea might be why I have been so fascinated by these wonderful creatures. Somewhere, Down in my soul, I knew that our apian friends were showing us the way and if we would learn from them, we would also learn what God wants us to become. 

So, while this started as a confession about my love for bees and ants, it appears to be ending as a confession that there is still much to do before I can be comfortable with who I am becoming.  The Savior said:

He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. (Matt 10:39)

Drones and workers are the strength of every colony.  The queen rules but the others DO.  And as long as there is someone DOING, there will always be things growing.

I have a long way to go before my time in life is ended so I guess I better make some changes so I can be part of the right ‘colony’ when HE comes again. 

And Teresa, I still want to have my own beehive… but I can wait ‘til you say OK.  

Old Friends

Teresa and I have had some wonderful friends over the years.  Many are still part of our circle but some have moved on and we have not seen them as much as we would like.  We think of them but… well, you know!!!  Life is busy and we don’t connect like we should.

Leave it up to my sweetheart fix that condition.  

At least in a small way.

A few weeks ago she warned me that she was planning something to bring a few of our old friends to the house.  As usual, I sort of put it in the back of my mind and then mostly forgot about it.

Early last week she reminded me again and said people were coming over on Friday night.  To be truthful, I was pretty excited.  She had invited some of my favorite people to come be with us for a few hours.

While not everyone came (lives are like that) those who did were greeted warmly and remembered with fondness.  Sadly, we didn’t take any pictures but we will always have the memories of our visit.  Thanks to all of you who came and made our day/week/life a little brighter.

Maybe we will do it again!!!

Here’s a list of those who came and visited with us:

Chris Fox

Christine Carlicci

Bertram and Victoria Merrill

Shane Smith + children Porter and Sabrina

Becky Smith

Gene and Lucy Smith

Orlan and Karen Thatcher

Suzanne Campbell

Paul MacFarlane

Hope I got them all.  If not, please forgive my forgetfulness. 

Conference April 2012

I know, everyone is excited about General Conference so there will be lots of blogs about what the Prophets have said, but I'm not going to let that curb my enthusiasm for the messages.  It only happens every six months so it's easy to get worked up about the cool things that are said.  Here are some of my favorites, with a link so you can listen and watch if you like.


Elder Ronald Rasband of the Presidency of the Seventy spoke about those who care for children with special needs.  That is a tender subject because Brian and Paula have a little Becca whom we have grown to love so much.  Elder Rasband's words were a great comfort for us as we watch her parents bless her life with so much love.  And Becca has such capacity to love each of us with no strings attached.  Here's the link to Elder Rasband's talk.

Ronald A. Rasband

Teresa and I had the opportunity to go to the Saturday afternoon session with Melissa and her three oldest.  We all rode TRAX up to the Conference Center and enjoyed the privilege of watching things live from the balcony seats.

We were in the upper balcony, three sections from the end.  Everyone on the stand was very tiny.

I particularly enjoyed Elder Jeffrey Holland's message about the parable of the laborers.  He has such a way of breaking down the truths in the stories of Jesus and helping us understand what the Savior was teaching.  His message is found here.

Jeffrey R. Holland

Saturday night all my boys came to our building and we watched the Priesthood Session together.  As we walked into the building, I was duly impressed with the fine young men that my sons have become.  It was inspiring to see that they have lived lives that are exemplary and clean and they are worthy fathers and husbands (except Joel and he's working on that).  I suppose this is what Father in Heaven sees as He looks down on His worthy sons.  




Anyway, there were some excellent messages in Priesthood Session.  Elder David Bednar gave a very personal message that touched my heart and helped me want to be a better father and priesthood holder.  You can view his message here.

David A. Bednar

We are so blessed to have living prophets who can give us counsel from the Lord.  As Pres. Benson said (paraphrasing), "each conference the Lord offers us our marching orders for the next six months".  I try to take that thought with me as I work through the things we have been counseled to do.  And I wait for the next series of instructions that will come in our October gathering.  Thanks be to God that we have living Prophets who can guide us through the morass of this mortal life.


If you haven't already done so, take some time and visit the General Conference site and listen to a few of the men who have been called by God to lead this world to righteousness. They really are pretty good guys.

Dreams -- not mine

A while back I was teaching Exodus to my classes in seminary and we decided to have some fun.  We were looking at the story of Joseph interpreting the dreams of Pharaoh, the butler and the baker. 

It seemed like a good idea to let the kids try to draw some of their impressions of the story.  Never underestimate the minds of 9^th graders!!

Here are a few of their gems.

I think this is the butler returning to his job??  He looks more like a witch... and Pharaoh looks like a skeleton.

The baker loses his head after this dream.

Corn can look good and EVIL.  Guess who wins?

Fat and lean cows have much to say.

A different baker who still loses his head

I think this is another corn field

Successful butler.

More wicked, nasty corn.

Cows that are harder to see.

These youngsters are pretty creative and had a lot of fun with the project.  Now if they could just stop talking so much!!!

Let's Talk

Last night my regular reading of the Book of Mormon took me to the 12^th chapter of the book of Helaman.  In some ways it is a dismal and depressing message because Nephi (3) is chastising his people for their lack of consistency when it came to following the Lord.

It is also sad because so much of what he says relates to the days in which we live.  See if this doesn’t ring a bell or two.

And thus we can behold how false, and also the unsteadiness of the hearts of the children of men; yea, we can see that the Lord in his great infinite goodness doth bless and prosper those who put their trust in him.

Yea, and we may see at the very time when he doth prosper his people, yea, in the increase of their fields, their flocks and their herds, and in gold, and in silver, and in all manner of precious things of every kind and art; sparing their lives, and delivering them out of the hands of their enemies; softening the hearts of their enemies that they should not declare wars against them ; yea, and in fine, doing all things for the welfare and happiness of his people; yea, then is the time that they do harden their hearts, and do forget the Lord their God, and do trample under their feet the Holy One – yea, and this because of their ease, and their exceedingly great prosperity.

Helaman 12:1-2)

I’m not a doom and gloom kind of guy but I do wonder what it will take to get us to come back to Christ as a nation.  We have a candidate for the Republican nomination that seems to be trying to get people to think about this possibility but I don’t know if he is sincere or just pandering to a particular group.

On the other hand, another candidate in the Republican group has said little about his beliefs because he is trying to avoid conflict.  Is he really committed to seeking to make our country better?  I think so and I have faith that his credentials show he will do his best.  Is he perfect?  No, but neither am I.

But what if we retain the same fellow that is in charge?  Will we continue down this road that leads to some pretty unsavory experiences?  It is my opinion that the vast majority of those who lead our country right now are inclined to continue the course we are following and if they remain in charge we will increase the rate of decline.

My personal hope is that there will be changes, not only in government, but in the way we live and relate to one another.  Unless that happens, the days of leisure, pleasure and good times are about to end and life will become much more difficult.

I’m not a prophet and do not offer this as a prophetic utterance except as it has been spoken by those who truly are prophets.  We have them, you know?  Maybe if we listen we can avoid some difficult days.  If not – well, I guess we get what we asked for don’t we?

Family Dinner/Birthday

Every month we get together with all the kids and their families for dinner and a project.

We try to rotate whose house hosts the happenings so we can do something at their place.

Sometimes the project is tilling a garden or maybe trimming roses.  We have even painted sheds and dug 'crypts' on occasion.

Other times, when no one has a project, we just do something fun..  

 March was one of those months.  Josh and Heather were hosting but they had no big project  (Thankfully, they have gotten rid of most of their roses).

 There's a nice park near where they live (Brian and Paula too) so we all gathered there and let the kids have fun.  

 After an hour or so of feeding ducks, throwing rocks in the lake and other "childish" things we let the little ones have some fun on the playground equipment.

We are really glad everyone lives so close -- and hope they keep it that way.

In case you didn't get the hint!!!

NO MOVING

Photos Finally

Some weeks ago I promised to post a few photos from the 50th Anniversary celebration we had for my folks.  They have finally been sent out so here is what it looked like for part of the time.

This is the happy Anniversary couple.  Doesn't Dad look happy?!!??!!

Dad has never been one to offer much in the way of hugs and stuff so this is a nice photo.  I know it gets him nervous but maybe with Mom he has gotten used to it.  Several of us make it a point to give him a hug -- because we love him -- but also because we like to see him squirm to get away when we encircle him with our arms.  It's High Entertainment for all present.  Thanks Dad for the good times.

My niece, Jennifer, was successful getting Dad to smile ---- sort of --- whatever she did must have been really good cause Mom seems to have lost it.  Way to go Jen.

These are the surviving children of Rex and Catherine Whitmer.  Sort of a motley crew, especially that front row group (not Mom and Dad-- but the rest of us).  At least we all cleaned up well and seemed to be having fun.  Someone said David (1st on left) and Jim (2nd from right) look the most alike.  I think all the ones on the back row look similar so I guess that leaves Rex III (also known as "little Rex or Rexie") (all the way right) and me (2nd from left) as the outcasts.  We do have one other brother but he is waiting for us in the Spirit World.  Kinda wish we could have known him more here but it will be a sweet reunion when we get there.

Teresa and I were the only ones from our part of the family to make it down for the celebration.  I'm almost smiling -- must have inherited that from Dad.  What you can't see is that Teresa is pinching me SEVERELY in an effort to get some reaction.  That's probably about all she can get from an old duffer like me.  :-)

And this is the whole group that was down for the event.  Lots of heritage for a couple of normal folk like my Mom and Dad.  We sure loved being there and hope they enjoyed the time we had with them.  

Only a few more years and Teresa and I will have a similar party with our kids.  I better not be drooling on myself by then!!!

Crypt View

Well, it's finally time to consider the project complete.  You know, the one that has been interminable in its duration.  Yes folks, the "Crypt" has been completed.

See the nice solid, shiny floor of concrete.
Thanks Jennie's family for the help.

We are so happy to be done and finally have a place to put all our food storage and stuff.  Come on by and we will give you a little tour (cause it's only a little space).

This is the view from the door.

This is the view from the other side of the room.  Cool eh!!??

Now, I wonder what will be next on our list of things to do???

Oh, Brian

A few days ago I posted a blog on birthdays. It was mostly in fun but there was a serious note in regards to my parents.

Yesterday was Brian's birthday so Teresa and I went out to wish him well. He is, after all, nearing the big three-oh and we don't want him to suffer alone.

When it came time for presents, we started to give his out and he said:

"Dad, you have to go first." 

I had no idea what he meant until he reminded me of my blog from the previous week. As a good son, he went out and got a present for me, giving thanks that I had not eliminated him from the earth during his teens.

Wireless Headphones

Teresa will love these because I won't have to turn the TV on so loud

To say I was surprised would be putting it mildly. Now I guess I need to get something for my own parents.

Thanks mucho Brian!!!

And Happy Birthday for the 29th Time.

BTW, Paula surprised Brian with the following:

He was pretty dang excited.  Now we have another reason to go visit.!!??!!&&##