The Tendency to Faith

The Tendency to Faith


James O. Mason, “The Tendency to Faith,” Ensign, Apr. 1974, 21

Geneticists believe that the variations produced by chromosomal division and recombination is a matter of chance. However, they speculate about the possibility, sometime in the future, of controlling the genetic makeup of the individual, in the hope of preventing inherited diseases. But can the genetic code, with its unlimited variability, be intelligently programmed by understanding an application of divine law so that chance is not the determining factor? And is it possible that variation is being intelligently controlled to relate to our premortal development so that the physical body would develop not only to look like the spirit but to have the physical and character attributes that correspond to an eternal personality?

Such attributes as faith, obedience, discernment, and being heirs to the priesthood could thereby have their proper physical and spiritual setting.

President Stephen L Richards commented on this subject:

“It seems to me … that there runs in some blood strains a higher susceptibility to the refining and saving influence of testimony than in other strains. I don’t know that I understand it, but I have thought that the significance of the ‘blood of Israel’ is that there is in that great blood strain, following the blessings and promises of God, a susceptibility to the influence of the Holy Spirit that does not run in other strains. Science has made some rather remarkable discoveries upon the inherited traits and qualities that go with blood strains. … I believe that it [testimony] is inheritable, and the tendency to faith may descend from father to son. It seems to me that Paul had that in mind when writing to Timothy. He said in substance: ‘I do perceive in thee the faith that was in thy grandmother Lois’ [See 2 Tim. 1:5], thus recognizing that this tendency to faith, this susceptibility to testimony, courses along in the very blood strains of the race.” (Conference Report, October 1925, pp. 118–19.)

My wife’s patriarchal blessing includes these words that indicate the close relationship between the living and their forebears—“… but what you are and what you may become is not entirely of your own doing, but the righteous men and women who make up your ancestral line. …”

The quotations cited indicate, therefore, the close relationship between premortality and our mortal spiritual and physical characteristics. We have developed eternal attributes, and our physical body, through genes, as carriers of heredity, serves to complement the characteristics and attributes of the spirit. Those of us who have been honored with the priesthood (D&C 86) are direct legal heirs through the lineage of our fathers. It must be stressed that as legal heirs we must be worthy and receive that priesthood in mortality by the laying on of hands by those possessing that sacred authority. The Lord declares that our life and the priesthood have remained, and must remain, through our lineage until the restoration of all things spoken of by the mouths of the holy prophets since the world began. We thus inherit the right to the priesthood and in turn have the privilege of passing that right on to our children.

Dr. James O. Mason
commissioner of Church Health Services
(address to eighth annual genealogical research seminar, BYU, Aug. 2, 1973)

Just something to think about.....

Share with thy neighbor

There is a lot of talk in religious and political circles the last little while about giving to your neighbors. But there are some things that you should not share or give to your neighbors.

Some of those things you share with your neighbor are a result of violations with Saratoga Springs City ordinances.

City Ordinance 19.06.090 requires all residential lots to have front yards landscaped within (1) year and backyards within (2) years after receiving a Certificate of Occupancy.

City Ordinance Section 19.16.040 (10b). Weeds shall not be permitted to reach a height of more than six inches at any time.

These two sections of Saratoga Springs law have become a sounding board for several un-identified people in the community. There have been a lot of accusations flying about ordinance officers, and neighbors a like.

So then you must ask yourself, why the ordinance? Why require people to keep weeds below 6 inches and to actually finish landscaping their yards after 2 years of "Certificate of Occupancy"?

FIRE HAZARD

Mayor Love I think summed it up best when she said:

I do not like nor believe it is the governments business to get involved with personal lives including mine (as a resident of Saratoga Springs). It is however mine and the councils duty to keep our residents safe. Here are the ordinances that were set by the council before I became a council member and the "weeds" ordinance that was designed to keep residents safe from fire speading to homes. [SOURCE]

Yes, fire hazard is a huge reason for wanting to keep yards weed free. Anyone who lived in the Lake Mountain Estates Subdivision will tell you about the fires we had several years back. One of them burned to the edge of my property, but because I was fully landscaped, and could turn on the sprinklers, and with the help of the fire department, no property damage occured. I was glad that I did not have a bunch of tall weeds around my house at that time.

EXPENSE TO NEIGHBORS

But I think that there is a lot more reasons for this ordinance. One of them is the fact that you give to your neighbors those weeds. Here is a perfect example. We had a neighbor that was in compliance with the ordinance that lived next door to us. This neighbor moved and since then the new residents managed to kill the lawn and replace it with a lovely lawn of weeds. Below is a picture of this neighbors yard from the sidewalk in front of my house.




As you can see, they do keep the weeds nice and green, they water it and the mow it. But it still is over 90% weeds. We have spent a lot of money and time in our yard to keep our grass green, and the weeds under control. But the neighbors insist on sharing their weeds with us. Below is a picture of our grass that is closest to our neighbor.




But then some may say that we have a weed problem in our entire yard. But that is not the case as illustrated by the following picture, taken at the same time, about 40 feet from the property line.




To show you in prospective of where each of the photos are taken, I have included this picture of our front yard. Each of the above picture areas are marked in this photograph, so you can see that the weeds in the first picture are a product of the weeds in the neighbors yard.




Not only are you in violation of city Ordinance, by you are also treading on the freedoms of your neighbors. You are requiring them to purchase weed killer, and or spend time removing weeds that are a direct result of the ordinance being violated.

EROSION

Erosion is another major issue for people who are not following the ordinances. Everyone knows that having a landscaped yard will keep the erosion down on your yard. I am not just talking about erosion caused by water, but also erosion caused by wind. By having a fully landscaped yard, you cut down on the amount of dust that is created by the wind blowing over an non landscaped yard. LandscapePlanet.com gives a lot of examples of what you can do to stop Soil Erosion, and all of them include types of landscaping. They suggestion you plant vegetation, use matting, apply a layer of mulch (bark, etc), and use retaining walls or edging. [SOURCE]

There have been a lot of people who have had their window wells filled with water. And the majority of them have been the product of no landscaping, incorrect landscaping of their own property or neighboring lots.

PROPERTY VALUE/ABILITY TO SELL

Everyone knows that a house without landscaping will sell for less that a house of the same size that is fully landscaped. It is also not much of a reach to say that a house that sits next to a house that is not landscaped has less of a value than one equal to it that is by a fully landscaped yard. People just don't like weeds, or having weeds next to their property. When you sell your house, you need to work on what is called curb appeal. Having your house not fully landscaped, or the houses around you not fully landscaped reduces your curb appeal and in turn the value or ability for you to sell your house.

Why is curb appeal so important in selling your home? It forms potential buyers’ first impressions of your home. Curb appeal sets the tone for your entire home. Buyers associate the condition of the exterior and landscape with the condition of the interior. Your home's curb appeal must invite buyers to view the rest of the property. In a buyer's market, curb appeal can mean the difference between a home that sells quickly for the asking price and a home that sells after months of sitting on the market for below the asking price. [SOURCE]

Having a house next to you that is not fully landscaped is like having a neighbor that has dogs that bark all night long. Both of them are a violation of City Ordinances, and both of the cause you money, time, and stress to deal with. Part of being a good neighbor is not being a burden on your neighbors. By not landscaping your yard, you are a burden to your neighbors and cause them to spend time and money that they should not have to spend.

Office Prank - Windows 3.11 (for Workgroups)

In the office I work in, if you are gone for more than a couple of days, you will have a joke played on you.  It can be anything from your computer systems missing, you LCD monitors replaced with huge CRT monitors.  Your office can be turned into a cardboard box.   Last year when I went on vacation, they did this to my cubical - Office Prank 2009. 

This year they got almost the entire IT team to help out.  This is an OLD DELL OpiPlex GX1, with a small hard drive and a extra small monitor.  They dug a 7 inch monitor out of the basement.  When I came back to the office, all my other stuff had been replace with this.  The cool thing is, what the OS was that was running on it.  From the picture, does anyone want to take a guess?  Yup, the installed DOS 6.0 and then loaded Windows 3.11 on the computer.

Nothing like working in an old OS and Application.

Are you stimulated yet?

In honor of the 44th President of the United States , Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream has introduced a new flavor: “ Barocky Road ."


Barocky Road is a blend of half vanilla, half chocolate, and surrounded by nuts and flakes.

The vanilla portion of the mix is not openly advertised and usually denied as an ingredient.

The nuts and flakes are all very bitter and hard to swallow.

The cost is $100.00 per scoop, two scoop minimum.

When purchased it will be presented to you in a large, beautiful cone.

The ice cream will then be taken away from you and given to the person in line behind you, at no charge. You will also be required to buy ice cream for their entire family if they will not work or are here illegally.

You are left holding an empty cone, with no hope of getting any ice cream, and your wallet is empty, but you did get the “change” that was promised.

Are you stimulated yet?

Just about anything.

Momzoo that other day was shopping at Barnes and Noble and found a notebook that she fell in love with.  It is an old leather notebook that has pages without lines (momzoo's is the top one, in the picture above) .  She has since started to just write and doodle in this notebook during the day, before she goes to bed, etc.  

I don't look in her notebook unless she lets me, and when she does, I am amazed at some of the drawings, doodles, and thoughts that she has put to paper.

Then I was at Barnes and Noble before our trip to OK, and I decided that I wanted to purchase one as well.  (I also picked up the last two books in the Shadow Children series by Margaret Peterson Haddix).  I then did my first doodle in the book that night.  It was of a tree, with the names of our kids at the bottom of the tree.  I find it handy to have a place that I can write whatever I feel like writing.  I have done several pages since then, one where I identify what is identity and what outside influences define our identity.  I then wrote the word SELF in the middle of the page and then wrote what I believe forms my idea of self.  I found it a very enlightening process.

Momzoo and I are reading (well she has read it, and I am listening to it) a book called And They Were Not Ashamed.   In Chapter 11 of the book, the author Laura M. Brotherson gives you an exercise that she says will help you find who you are and develop your identity and your feel of self.  She suggests that you read your Patriarchal Blessing and then write the insights it gives you in the following three areas:

• Who Am I
• My Promises, Gifts and Blessings
• Counsel and Warnings to Me

I suggest that everyone goes and gets some type of notebook, it does not have to be a leather one like Momzoo and I purchased.  It can be just a scrap of paper, but then start to write your feelings, questions, etc that you have.  This process will help make them more concrete and allow you to really start thinking about things.  If you have a Patriarchal Blessing, I suggest that you do that above exercise.  Read it, and then write down the points in it for each of the three categories.

The other night, Momzoo and I sat in bed for some time and each wrote in our notebooks.  The next day we both commented on how we each enjoyed sitting together and just thinking and writing about things.
Below is an example of one that you cay buy from Barnes and Noble. You can also find them at most of your local book stores.  Barnes and Noble, I think, has a better selection than Borders, but that is my personal opinion.

Thanks to Momzoo for taking the top two pictures.  She really has a talent for photography, maybe that is something I need to encourage development of more in her.  :)   I wonder what she could do with some classes under her belt.

Regrets....

There is a movie called Back to the Future that stars Michael J Fox as a character named Marty McFly.  Marty comes from a family of "Geeks" because of something his Dad (George McFly) did or did not do when he was in High School.   Marty gets that chance to go back in time with the help of Dr. Emmett Brown (played by Christopher Lloyd).  In the process he encourages his Dad to stand up to Biff Tannen (Thomas F. Wilson).  Because of this one change, when Marty returns home, his life is totally different because of the self confidence that George now has because of his confrontation with Biff.

Is there anything in your life that you wish you could change, that you wonder "if I would of just done this, everything would be different?"

When I was in Jr. High School, I hated Gym class.  I grew fast when I hit Jr. High, and I had a hard time getting my fast growing body to do what I wanted it to do. From the time I was in 6th grade to the time I went to High School, my shoe size went from a 9 to a 13.  I was not very athletic, and had a hard time in gym class.  The only classes that I really did good at involved science or computers.  One day we were playing touch football on the field next to the school.  I was given the position of lineman because I was taller and bigger than most of the boys in my class.  All I knew is that I was suppose to stand in one place, and not let the other kids get to the guy with the ball.  I was protecting the quarterback when one of the other teams players tried to knock me down.  Instead of me going down, he went down and went down hard.  I was just standing there, not knowing what really was happening.  And this kid was now sitting on the field with a look on his face that said, "What was that for."  I thought nothing of it, and continued to play the game.  When we were in the locker room, this boy came up to me, and without warning hit me square in the face with his fist.  My reaction was that of surprise, and I called him something that was not very nice.  He then hit me in the face again, and then again.  At that point my nose was bleeding, so I just walked away.   I went to the principals office to get my nose taken care of.   Well, we both were suspended from school for the rest of the day and the following day.  When my mother found out about it, she went to the school and the principal told her this.  "I am glad the Michael did not fight back, he would of wasted the boy who hit him.  He is a lot bigger than the other boy."  He then gave my mother a sob story about how the boy was going through a hard time, his parents were getting divorced, and since he was an A student and I was a C student, it had to of been more to the story.

I have thought about that incident a lot of times.  What in my life would of been different if I would of instead of calling him a name, taken my fist and hit him with it.  Even if it would of been in the stomach.  What would my life be like now, what would my sense of self be?  Would I be more aggressive, and would of played more sports?  Of would if of pushed me over the edge so that I always wanted to fight?

There have also been several movies written where someone tries to fix something they have done in past and have messed up the future by doing so.   We are a collection of our experiences, and by changing any of those experiences, we change who we are.

Today I was listening to the radio and heard a song by Darius Rucker (Sorry Momzoo, I know you still see him as the singer for Hootie and the Blowfish, and not a country singer).  The name of the song is Learn To Live.  The song starts out with a picture of a little boy climbing up on his Grandpa's knee and listening to stories, the little boy says "and i'd hang onto every word that he would breathe." In this song, there is one line that hit me hard today.   The grandpa at the end of the song says, "all those mistakes I thought that I was making, led me right here to you sittin' on my knee."   We are the result of our mistakes and our triumphs.   Why would we want to change that?  Would we really want to give up who and what we are to do something over?

The chorus of the song is:
We can't have regrets.   We need to live to learn so that we can learn to live.  We may do some stupid things, but if we pull ourselves up by our boot straps afterwards, those stupid things can give us character and allow us to LEARN to LIVE.

You gotta live to learn
You gotta crash and burn
You gotta make some stances
and take some chances
You gotta live and love
and take all life has to give
You gotta live and learn
You gotta live and learn
so you can LEARN to LIVE
Learn to Live

Muskogee OK??

Why a trip to Muskogee OK?   I have been asked that a few times in the last week or so, so here is the answer.  I can only think of a few things in my life that I regret doing.  One of them happened almost three years ago.  I had a Vasectomy.   Aimee and I after having our first boy and fifth child had the procedure done.  It was a mistake.  After talking about it we both came to the conclusion that neither of us really felt good about it.  But both of us were relying on the other to make the decision.  So the decision was made, but neither of us really wanted to have it done.  COMMUNICATION is necessary in a relationship.  We both figured that the other had a better reason than we did.  So we went ahead and had it done.

Alot has changed in our relationship since then.  We have gotten rid of some extra baggage and in the process have come closer as a couple.  And during the course of becoming closer we talked about the vasectomy and both realized that it was a mistake.  So the quest went on how to fix the problem.  We decided that it had to be a Microscopic Vasectomy Reversal.  After looking into it, we found that the procedure in UTAH was VERY expensive, and there were few doctors that would to the microscopic version of the procedure.  So we went looking on the internet.  That is when we found Dr. Wilson in Muskogee OK.  His price was GREAT, and Aimee had a BLOG world friend that had used his services and was very pleased with it.  So we traveled to OK to get it done. (He is booked out 3 months, and has people waiting to get a time.)

What did I learn from the process?  1- I can spend 48 hours in the car with Aimee and enjoy every minute of it.  2- The procedure hurts.  3- (the most important), that you need to have open communication with your spouse.  If you have any doubts, or comments, you need to share them.  The vasectomy in the first place was a mistake, and it could of been avoided if both of us felt comfortable enough to talk about it.

Aimee and I have found ourselves counting out kids, and looking for a sixth child.  We will be leaving a restaurant, or church and will look for the sixth kid.   Now that we have both started communicating like we should we know that there is at least another little Kieffer kid waiting to come down to Earth.

If you have any doubts about something that is going to impact your future, make SURE that you discuss them with your spouse.  Don't assume that the other knows better or more than you do.  Communication is a must, or you will regret your choices.  We were lucky, we had the resources needed to get the reversal done.  I don't know what we would of done if we would not of come up with a way to get it reversed. 

BOTTOM LINE: Don't do anything unless BOTH of you agree 100%, especially for something this important.