Music and Lyrics

Dear Reader, Some friends of mine have recently been writing blogs about different topics from entrepreneurship to family life. There are some really consistent writers; some are very articulate. At the beginning of this year, one posted for the first time in 16 months! However, no matter how often they write or what topic they address, it is always nice to hear from old friends, especially on a platform where they share their most honest feelings. I love reading what these friends are doing and what they are going through. With that said, I come to you again from behind the keyboard to apologize for my neglect in writing due to working, parenting and singing. How can I keep from singing? Down below I will give you a life update, but I wanted to inform you all of how great our Heavenly Father is. He knows us. He loves us. He wants the best for us. He sent His son to fulfill the atonement and learn how each one of us feels in order to comfort us in our times of need. Now, for an

Dear Reader, Our little boy has not even arrived yet and I am already feeling the pressure to a good example. All growing up, I was always told to never do anything that I wouldn't want my children to know about/do themselves. "Always be on your best behavior, your children will watch you." I will be honest, I have always agreed with that idea and I think it is a good way to live your life. However, I didn't feel the weight of that responsibility until my wife got pregnant. I feel like I am getting more and more pressure from myself to be a perfect example, even though this little boy hasn't even met me yet. That's why I am relating so much with this song right now. I know, this isn't too deep. I just wanted to share the song more than anything.

Dear Reader, Family ties are great. They are hard to maintain sometimes, but they are well worth the effort. God gave us families for a reason. I have seen it time and time again that being part of a family can help you come back from any setback or go forward to accomplish any goal. It must be said that my family is perfect for me. Heavenly Father knew what He was doing when He helped Lauren and I come together to form our own family and bring together our extended families. My in-laws are very generous and my parents are very loving. My siblings (in-laws included) are all fun to be with and they each teaches me in little ways. This past year with new family and lots of grand experiences has shown me how it important it is to be part of a family. This time last year, Lauren and I were preparing for our wedding and thinking about where she would be applying to grad school. Last fall we worked hard to finish as much school as we could and we planned to wait on have kids until she

Dear Reader, You most likely feel at times that there is so much to do and not enough time to do it. Is that right? It is ok to agree. I have often felt that there is a lot that I can't accomplish because my day is too short and lots of things depend on me. That is the reason you are receiving a challenge, should you choose to accept it: make a list of what roles/titles you have. Then, take those roles and put them in order from most important to least important. This may be difficult because it is rather revealing about oneself. If desired, you can take a step further and list out the responsibilities of each role in order. As a quick example, I have compiled a short list of my most important roles in the order I feel they best should be taken care of. The first of these roles are all crucial to each other and have to be care for simultaneously at times. I encourage you to think of your own list of roles while you read. 1. Child of God This is above all the most important

Dear Reader, Today I simply want to share a story that has strengthened my testimony of the Book of Mormon over the years. Professor Felix Mynhardt was fluent in many languages, including English, Afrikaans, Hebrew and Egyptian, as well as many others. He was employed as a language professor when he had been praying that the Lord would give him some divinely important task that would justify his having this gift of language from God. In 1970 he visited with a group of Mormon leaders, who sought to commission him to translate the Book of Mormon from English into Afrikaans. He said that he knew of the Book of Mormon from his religions studies, and his initial reaction was that he did not want to be involved in translating it. However, that evening, as he prayed upon his knees, as was his habit, he said the Spirit of the Lord convinced him. The message was something on the order of, "You asked me for a great, divinely inspired task of translation, I sent it to you in the form o

Dear Reader, Normally I would apologize for a long absence, but the experience we had today just can't wait. I had an entirely new view on taking the sacrament because of a simple oversight by one of the boys passing the sacrament to us. Then the Bishop spoke and gave a little more perspective on spirituality. First, the sacrament. Today we attended our new ward in Kaysville and we were sitting on the front row of the overflow area in the chapel. As is customary with the sacrament meeting in the Church of Jesus Christ, the members of the Aaronic priesthood will bless the bread and water that represents Christ's flesh and blood before allowing the members of the congregation to partake of it. While they were passing around the bread on their trays, our row was somehow skipped. My wife, my in-laws and myself did not receive the bread while taking the sacrament. My father-in-law and I both did our best to attract the attention of those priesthood holders helping with the