Phoenix Arizona Temple Open House and Dedication

Just posting here to reiterate exciting news that the Church announced earlier today (Friday). Church officials announced that an open house would be held for the recently completed Phoenix Arizona Temple from Friday October 10-Saturday November 1. The temple will be formally dedicated in three sessions on Sunday November 16. Sessions will be at 10 am, 1 pm, and 4 pm. This will be the Church's 144th temple and the fifth temple in Arizona.

Now the question becomes, who will officiate at the dedication? President Thomas S. Monson presided at the last temple dedication in Arizona on March 2. President Henry B. Eyring accompanied him and, at his invitation, read the prayer at the first and third sessions of the dedication. As President of the Church, President Monson has dedicated thirteen (and rededicated three) temples. As a counselor in the First Presidency, he dedicated seven additional temples at President Gordon B. Hinckley's invitation. President Eyring has dedicated one temple and rededicated at least two that I know of. President Dieter F. Uchtorf has dedicated four temples. President Boyd K. Packer has dedicated 2 temples (Regina Saskatchewan and Brigham City Utah). If I had to take a guess, I would predict that either President Monson or President Eyring or both will be in Arizona for the temple dedication. We may find out at October's General Conference during President Monson's opening address, when he will give a progress report on temples.

I am grateful to live in a day when the gospel is restored in its fulness and where we have the blessing of a house of the Lord just up the road from us. Even when I have been too sick to take advantage of the blessings that temple attendance affords, I have still been able to feel the spirit of that sacred building every time I pass it.

I testify that what the prophets said are true, that the power of Satan decreases with each temple that is dedicated. I bear witness of the power of temple covenants that bind families together not just for this life but for the eternities. And I will be forever grateful that I had the privilege of spending six years of my life serving in the temple. The greatest blessing that came from my service is my sweet wife, Amy. I don't know where I'd be or what I'd be doing without her. I know my life would be much emptier. Oh, what joy it gives me to know that death can never separate us! How I treasure the knowledge that if I remain faithful, I can be with her and all other members of my family, past, present and future, forever! Truly we are blessed to be a temple-attending people!

Happy Birthday to 5 great men this month!

I was encouraged by Brandon Sanderson as part of my "homework" from him to continue regularly updating my blog. Other than the fact that my headaches have inexplicably increased and that my employment counselor has accepted another job elsewhere and will be replaced by someone I have only had brief contact with in the past, nothing much is new in our lives. Then I remembered that this blog's purpose was to allow me to "sound off" about things that are important to me. This month is a very significant month in Church history, so I thought I'd post about that. First of all, the Church recently announced it would be breaking ground for the temple in Meridian Idaho on August 23 at 10 am. It is unknown as yet who will preside at that groundbreaking. My guess? Well, it could be one of many individuals. Elder Craig C. Christensen of the Presidency of the Seventy has direct supervisory responsibility for the Idaho Area of the Church. But all members of the Presidency of the Seventy jointly supervise the areas in the United States and Canada, so it could be any one of those seven, including Elder Ronald A. Rasband, Senior President of the Seventy, who is assigned to assist in all areas of the world as needed. It could also be done by any one of the First Presidency or the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles or any one of the members of the Seventy or Presiding Bishopric that are not filling other assignments. It is always interesting to me to see how groundbreaking assignments are fulfilled.

Additionally, there are potentially another 8 temples that could have their groundbreaking within this year or the next year, so that's exciting to me as well.

But by far the most exciting thing to me about the month of August is this: of the 15 currently serving apostles, 1/3 (5) of them have their birthdays this month. Today, Elder L. Tom Perry turned 92, and is keeping a schedule that reportedly even his own children can't keep up with. (Click here for an article on him). He is currently the oldest living apostle, and based on what has been reported about his health and pace, I anticipate that he may break Elder David B. Haight's record as oldest living apostle ever in this dispensation. (He will surpass that record on July 5, 2020.)

Also having a birthday this month (and no less significant) are Elder Neil L. Andersen (On August 9, he will turn 63.); Elder Dallin H. Oaks (On August 12, he will turn 82.); our beloved prophet, President Thomas S. Monson (On August 21 he will turn 87.) and Elder Robert D. Hales (On August 24, he will turn 82.).

I am grateful for the mammoth way each of these men have contributed to the furthering of the Lord's work. I am grateful for the knowledge that I have that each of these men have been called of God to be prophets, seers are revelators. I testify that we will be blessed as we follow the counsel of all who have been called of God to lead us in this, the dispensation of the fulness of times. I share this testimony and this post with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

An Unexpected Pleasure

Chris Heimerdinger has been a favorite author of mine and a good friend for many years, as well as one of the inspirations for my desire to become an author myself. Recently on his blog, he announced that he was offering a special deal for pre-ordering his newest book, which will be hot off the presses on October 1. I was elated to hear this, but somewhat despondent, because, with our current financial situation, I knew it wouldn't be practical for me to pre-order it, or perhaps even to purchase it when it comes out. When I explained my dilemma to my sweet wife, her answer was immediate. She said: "I know how much this means to you. Go ahead and order the book. We will be just fine." With her encouragement, I placed a call to order the book and spoke to Chris directly. This was the first in-person contact I'd had with him. I had interacted with him on his websites and via e-mail but never before spoken to him. He couldn't have been nicer. He patiently took my information, then took time to ask me how my writing career was going. (I had told him about it before.) He acted as if he didn't have any other concerns or calls waiting. He and I spoke for 12 minutes. He called back a couple of minutes later with a follow-up question. And if that wasn't fantastic enough, he called me again the next day apologizing that he'd forgotten one additional question. I was overwhelmed with gratitude for the attentiveness with which he took my order. My wife encouraged me to write this experience down in my journal. And since this blog is now my journal, I thought I'd post this experience to share with everyone. It was one of the best experiences I will ever have in my life.

Trials Make Our Faith Grow Stronger

As many of you know, my sweet wife and I have been out of work ever since she had to quit her job because her health failed in December 2012. I have been looking pretty consistently since that time with no success. Anyone in our situation would be downhearted. And yet, I am not. I am a firm believer in the words from the hymn "Welcome,Welcome, Sabbath Morning" that "Trials make our faith grow stronger." Whenever trials come in our lives, we have two basic choices. We can either choose to embrace them and deal with them as they come, or we can fight against them and make ourselves miserable in the process. I've tried fighting against my problems and being miserable, and it hasn't done me any good. I much prefer to choose happiness in whatever circumstances the Lord places me in. A scriptural passage that has brought me great comfort in my current circumstances is 1 Nephi 21:14-16, where Nephi is quoting Isaiah.

He says: "But, behold, Zion hath said: The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me—but he will show that he hath not.

 "For can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee, O house of Israel.

"Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me."

I love that imagery, the idea that He truly has graven us upon the palms of His hands. A hymn associated with this scripture has also brought great comfort to me. It's Hymn #43. While all the verses are touching, the second and third verses particularly speak to me in our current circumstances:

Ev'ry human tie may perish,

Friend to friend unfaithful prove,

Mothers cease their own to cherish,

Heav'n and earth at last remove.

But no changes, But no changes

Can attend Jehovah's love.

 

In the furnace God may prove thee,

Thence to bring thee forth more bright,

But can never cease to love thee;

Thou art precious in his sight.

God is with thee, God is with thee;

Thou shalt triumph in his might.

 

It is my testimony that the words of this scripture and hymn are true and my hope and prayer that they might be as helpful to my readers as they have been to me, and I share this post with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

First post: Independence Day: Its' meaing and significance

Several people have  spoken to me about starting a blog, so I finally decided to do it. As this blog's title implies, I will be regularly "sounding off" about life: its' joys, sorrows, matters of interest to me, etc. This blog will cover a variety of topics, and will be a better way for me to keep track of my life. I've tried over the years to keep a regular journal, and it hasn't worked out very well for me, especially lately. But I am great at surfing the web, so it's my hope that this blog will keep me motivated to post regular updates about my life and kind of serve as a journal that everyone interested can read to keep up with my life.

It is very fitting that my blog should be started on Independence Day. Why? Because this day is significant to me for several reasons. Having dealt with the preliminaries, I will now post a word or two about what Independence Day means to me.

The first reason Independence Day is significant to me is because of the freedoms I enjoy. I love living in a land that promotes life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I treasure the freedom to worship the way I choose. I love living in a land where the gospel was restored in this last dispensation, never again to be taken from the earth. I am a firm believer in respecting the opinions of others, even if and when I disagree with them. I live by a motto in my life: "We can disagree without being disagreeable." Disagreements can and will come as a natural and regular part of life. What is unnatural is to take these disagreements as a personal affront to  one's values and beliefs. It is possible to not see eye to eye with someone but to still be respectful of them and their views. Civility in public and private discourse will always yield the best results, more so than any other option.

The second reason Independence Day is significant to me is because of those who have gone before, whether their fight for freedom has been more visible and  prominent or private and sanctimonious. I particularly remember those I know who have fought for the freedoms I enjoy. These include but are not limited to my brother-in-law, Lyle Hickman, my paternal uncle, Gary Stokes, my paternal grandfather, Dean Stokes, my good friend Matt Price, our Founding Fathers, and so many more I don't have room to name.

Also no less significant are those who have died for the causes they embraced. I am thinking particularly of Joseph Smith and all the other martyrs  of any religious cause and any others who have lost their lives in pursuit of freedom, religious or otherwise. And most importantly, my Savior, Jesus Christ, who died that I might live forever and be made pure and clean and have eternal life, His greatest gift to me. I owe Him a greater debt than I can ever repay.

Finally, and definitely most importantly, this day is significant to me and ever will be because of what happened to me on this day four years ago. On that day, and every Independence Day since, I have taken my sweet Amy to the grounds of the Mount Timpanogos Temple. There on a quiet bench on the temple grounds in 2010, I proposed marriage to her, and she accepted without hesitation, full well knowing the sacrifices she would willingly make to keep us going. I have made it a tradition to take her to the temple grounds every Independence Day since and re-propose to her. In this way, I renew my commitment to making our marriage work whatever the cost. I have embraced this tradition as a way to celebrate our love and relationship anew every year, and it will be a tradition I carry on forever.

As a final note to this post, my thanks to my sweet Amy for her help in making this blog more artistically pleasing. Her sense of what works and what doesn't will be a great blessing and asset to the success of this blog. Love you, sweetheart, now and forever!

Well, that does it for this blog post. Until I find something else to "sound off" about, I wish all my readers every happiness and success they desire and express my hope that the Lord will bless and prosper you all until my next post. Best wishes, dear readers, for a wonderful Independence Day!