The Devil

I have been attending the investigator class for the past several weeks to help our ward missionaries out. Sister Curtis now has a new companion, Sister Bean. I kept wanting to ask if anybody jokes with her about Mister Bean but I refrained. 

The subject of our lesson this week was 'Service'. The Savior was the Son of God and yet he was the ultimate servant. The reason Satan is Satan is because he did not want to be a servant. He wanted all the Glory. He was the ultimate example of pride. He believed he knew it all...that he was smarter than God! This resulted in the permanent spiritual deaths of 1/3 of the hosts of heaven. Some people of the 20th century also believed they were smarter than God and smarter than anyone around them. These men did not want to serve either. They wanted all the glory and the power. Their names were Hitler (Germany), Stalin (Russia), and Mao (China). Between them they were responsible for the deaths of over 100 million people with Mao being the worst (>65 million), Stalin next (>45 million), then Hitler (17 million). They wanted society structured so that everyone was forced to serve each other but they all must serve and glorify the arrogant supreme leader. These men were evil personifications of Satan who believed their way was best and any means of making men follow their way was justified. In their minds they believed they couldn't sin because no rules count other than their rules. These men were totalitarians. Satan is a totalitarian.

The Devil 

Do we have men now who are like that? Yes, the Supreme Leader of Iran (Khamenei), the Dear Leader of North Korea (Kim Jung Un), the President of Venezuela (was Chavez, now Maduro) are just a few (Other problem countries include Cuba, Syria, Congo, and Burma). 

Pride and arrogance are big inhibitors for people accepting the gospel. When someone believes that if they haven't experienced something no one else can, that someone is not humble enough to be touched by the spirit. Doing service to others helps you become humble.

Enough preaching.

We had brother report about his daughter on her mission. He read a tiny bit from a letter from her. She said, "Mormonism is like McDonalds. It is spreading everywhere. Except Mormonism is healthy!"

We received tickets for the BYU opening FB game against Arizona.

We keep having rain. The motorcycle trails are muddy.

Colonoscopy

This was the week of the colonoscopy. I had to eat bland food for two days, then only clear liquids for a day, then drink this nasty colon cleaning fluid that made it so I couldn't sleep well the night before.

The good news is that no issues were found and I won't have to do it for another 10 years.

That evening, Felicia and I went to a missionary activity being held at our Ward Mission Leader's house. The Sister Missionaries were there, Sister Harp and Sister Curtis, some former members, some new members, some investigators, and the Bishop and his wife, and us. We played Gospel Jeopardy. It was pretty tight competition. Felicia and I were split up and made team captains. My team eked out the victory because we had a young lady on our side who was able to provide the answer, "Who was Peleg?"

West Coast 2018

We are back from our trip to the coast. Traveling always seems to feature some unplanned adventure or delay. I have attached some pictures of the geodesic house we stayed in at Arroyo Grande with pictures of the children exploring. John broke the electric recliner and Tommy broke the wooden tray on the high chair that was there. 

John with the Sealions

Tommy climbs the spiral stair case

A deer visited the playground in the morning

John plays Megasaur Legos

I also attached pictures of KB's retirement. KB had arranged for us to fly the C17 simulator. It was a really nice simulator that was on hydraulic actuators the pitched the simulated cockpit around to give you the feel of motion. The had me fly through some canyons around Mount Ranier. It was a lot of fun until I crashed. The instructor pilot wanted me to veer off to a canyon just below Ranier and apparently I tried to turn the C17 to sharply. I falls out of the sky if you pull an 80 degree bank with 2.5 g's. When Cory had a turn, he flew under the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and then did a mid air refueling with a refueling plane. 

Cory checking the plane out

Landing gear tour

Looking out the escape hatch

The wing view from on top

Friends and Family

Tribute to Mom

KB and Kim have a new puppy and it was crying  a lot while were there but I'm sure it will calm down when all the visitors leave. It was a poodle mix of some kind. 

Haley was able to help a family be baptized. A family being baptized into the church is such a special thing. I was never able to experience that on my mission. She is truly blessed and it blesses us to learn about it.