Kamehameha's Revenge
We arrived back from Hawaii with Johnny already experiencing a stomach bug and me getting symptoms 6 hours after arriving home. I made the mistake of trying to take pepto bismal which I learned just makes it worse because it keeps the bug in your intestines longer. I was out of work most of that week and Felicia caught the same thing 3 days after I did. We tried to be careful and wash hands but it didn't work.
Gordon and Alison took John to the doctor and they took a stool sample. The results finally came back saying Salmonella poisoning. Well the state of California stepped in and put John in quarantine. He was not allowed to attend daycare even though he was, by then, feeling fine. He has to stay quarantined until the tests show he is clear of the bug. This has made life difficult for Gordon and Alison since they are both working. We hope green Jamba Juice helps clear him out.
Haley is visiting Eric and Krystal this week. Eric and Haley are planning to go to a concert. This weekend we will be flying to SLC to be with Haley when she takes out her Endowment.
Last week was Easter Sunday. I spoke in Sacrament Meeting on the Atonement. I centered my talk on the classic parable told by Elder Boyd K. Packer in 1977, just before my mission. I found it to be very helpful to my understanding at the time. I will copy it here.
“There once was a man
who wanted something very much. It seemed more important than anything else in
his life. In order for him to have his desire, he incurred a great debt.
“He had been warned about going into that much debt, and
particularly about his creditor. But it seemed so important for him to do what
he wanted to do and to have what he wanted right now. He was sure he could pay
for it later.
“So he signed a contract. He would pay it off some time
along the way. He didn’t worry too much about it, for the due date seemed such
a long time away. He had what he wanted now, and that was what seemed
important.
“The creditor was always somewhere in the back of his mind,
and he made token payments now and again, thinking somehow that the day of
reckoning really would never come.
“But as it always does, the day came, and the contract fell
due. The debt had not been fully paid. His creditor appeared and demanded
payment in full.
“Only then did he realize that his creditor not only had the
power to repossess all that he owned, but the power to cast him into prison as
well.
“‘I cannot pay you, for I have not the power to do so,’ he
confessed.
“‘Then,’ said the creditor, ‘we will exercise the contract,
take your possessions, and you shall go to prison. You agreed to that. It was
your choice. You signed the contract, and now it must be enforced.’
“‘Can you not extend the time or forgive the debt?’ the
debtor begged. ‘Arrange some way for me to keep what I have and not go to
prison. Surely you believe in mercy? Will you not show mercy?’
“The creditor replied, ‘Mercy is always so one-sided. It
would serve only you. If I show mercy to you, it will leave me unpaid. It is
justice I demand. Do you believe in justice?’
“‘I believed in justice when I signed the contract,’ the
debtor said. ‘It was on my side then, for I thought it would protect me. I did
not need mercy then, nor think I should need it ever. Justice, I thought, would
serve both of us equally as well.’
“‘It is justice that demands that you pay the contract or
suffer the penalty,’ the creditor replied. ‘That is the law. You have agreed to
it and that is the way it must be. Mercy cannot rob justice.’
“There they were: One meting out justice, the other pleading
for mercy. Neither could prevail except at the expense of the other.
“‘If you do not forgive the debt there will be no mercy,’
the debtor pleaded.
“‘If I do, there will be no justice,’ was the reply.
“Both laws, it seemed, could not be served. They are two
eternal ideals that appear to contradict one another. Is there no way for
justice to be fully served, and mercy also?
“There is a way! The law of justice can be fully satisfied
and mercy can be fully extended—but it takes someone else. And so it happened
this time.
“The debtor had a friend. He came to help. He knew the
debtor well. He knew him to be shortsighted. He thought him foolish to have
gotten himself into such a predicament. Nevertheless, he wanted to help because
he loved him. He stepped between them, faced the creditor, and made this offer.
“‘I will pay the debt if you will free the debtor from his
contract so that he may keep his possessions and not go to prison.’
“As the creditor was pondering the offer, the mediator
added, ‘You demanded justice. Though he cannot pay you, I will do so. You will
have been justly dealt with and can ask no more. It would not be just.’
“And so the creditor agreed.
“The mediator turned then to the debtor. ‘If I pay your
debt, will you accept me as your creditor?’
“‘Oh yes, yes,’ cried the debtor. ‘You save me from prison
and show mercy to me.’
“‘Then,’ said the benefactor, ‘you will pay the debt to me
and I will set the terms. It will not be easy, but it will be possible. I will
provide a way. You need not go to prison.’
“And so it was that the creditor was paid in full. He had
been justly dealt with. No contract had been broken.
“The debtor, in turn, had been extended mercy. Both laws
stood fulfilled. Because there was a mediator, justice had claimed its full
share, and mercy was fully satisfied” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1977,
pp. 79–80; or Ensign, May 1977, pp. 54–55).
posted by Deseret, Cactus, & Texas @ 9:40 PM
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