Change Your Oil, Your Heart, Your Mind ...

I started this a long time ago and never finished. The impetus of this post was bumping into a fellow named Malcolm, who had been in a YSA ward with Miriam.

Malcolm

I went to Walmart to get an oil change a few months back, and started talking to a technician, Malcolm. There was some kind of delay and so I was asking him some questions. He then paused and asked if I knew someone named Miriam with the same last name as mine. Well, of course!

He then proceeded to tell me how much he appreciated her friendship when he came to the ward. He was struggling with anxiety and depression, and felt very out-of-place. But, he retailed, Miriam also treated him warmly and "like a person", and he said he was really touched by she treated him.

Wow. Miriam, struggling with misophonia and depression herself, helps a young man feel worthwhile and comfortable coming to church. Well done, wonderful daughter of mine, well done! It is one of those little moments that we usually don't hear about in this life.

Malcolm did a great job with the oil change. And I was very, very grateful for the pause that allowed us to chat a bit.

Family Photo

I bumped into this photo a while ago, looking for something else, and just wanted to post it. I had been missing Devin, and seeing his smile in the photo touched me. I love my family!

Joy

I don't know a good way to relate sacred experiences. It doesn't hurt to try, though, does it? Especially if it is brief?

A few months ago, I was called to be the veil coordinator for my shift at the Layton Utah Temple, and I had a very memorable experience. 

Once everyone is in place and ready to go, my assignment requires to watch and, in a nutshell, alertly wait to resolve any concerns or issues that may arise. On one of the first sessions after my call, awaiting the arrival of patrons, I said a little prayer in my heart that went something like this: "Is there anything else I should be looking for? What am I missing?"

I was then filled with an amazing feeling of reverence and joy. It was almost overwhelming.

I was thinking about the technicalities of my new calling. What was I missing? The reverence and joy on both sides of the veil that are the result of the work we are doing. It was an amazing tender mercy I hope I never forget.

Dream

I also had an interesting dream right before I took over the assignment mentioned above. I felt like I was having a stress dream with obvious symbols, but there was a bit of twist at the end that awakened me and I felt like the spirit wanted to teach me something. I don't know if my feelings were correct, but that's what it felt like. And, a few weeks later, I had an experience at a training with the temple presidency that seemed to reveal something to learn from the dream.

I dreamt that I was responsible for staff at a very fancy, exclusive resort on a beach. We were quite dapper, our mostly white uniforms clearly indicating we were resort staff. My job was to line all the staff up at a certain time at the end of the day to help all the resort guests on the beach get up a steep, stony embankment to the resort: the kind of embankment meant to protect the higher ground from erosion caused by the waves during high tide.

As the staff assisted the numerous guests, I started to walk along the beautiful, ocean-walk area between the beach and the resort to see how things were going on the other side. But, the going was slow: the relatively narrow area was filled with all the people coming up the embankment and crossing over to the resort.

Down on the beach, a security officer saw me and indicated I could come down to the beach and walk along the beach to the other side ... staff would help me up, too! The officer also indicated that it wasn't too dirty down there: yes, it was sandy and kind of wet and messy, but it was a typical resort beach and the guests had surely enjoyed themselves!

My response is what surprised me and woke me up. I laughed, and I said something like "I can't. It takes me too long to get cleaned up." It took too much time to get my shoes, and possibly outfit, looking spiffy for all the work I needed to do at the resort.

My first and probably most obvious thought was that I needed to limit sinning during the week and repent often before my weekly shift. Sure. Makes sense. But I felt like there was more.

Later, during attending a coordinator training, topics of preparation included giving time for workers to prepare for their ordinance work, as well as the need to limit conversations with each other and doing our best to stay focused on the work and our patrons during our shift. 

I felt I then understood my dream much better, and used it to try to help train those working at the veil (and hopefully help workers in other assignments as well). When we have worldly conversations with each other, or are distracted by worldly thoughts, it can be hard to return our focus to the significance of what we are doing. These are big sins, just distractions. But, they might take too much time to work all those out of our mind when we are needed to focus on the patrons and very important ordinances we do. It takes too much time to "clean up". As much as possible, we need to focus on important things: reviewing ordinances, silent prayer for ourselves and the patrons, looking for opportunities to assist those with questions or needs, etc.

The Right Path

I saw this humorous Youtube short and it reminded me of ... me.