Mark Damoss- BYU devotional 1/24/2012

Mark Damoss- BYU devotional 1/24/2012
-Author of the "little red book of wisdom"
"If you're representing the lord you have nothing to worry about. It's
the Lord who should be worried."

If it's Christian, it ought to be done better.
The only Christian work is work well done.

Doctrinal differences have caused an ugly divide between evangelical
Christians and Latter-day Saints.
Those violently protesting our faith are a small and ugly minority.
Mistreatment of Mormons by those who claim to follow Christ has
inspired many attempts at more Christ-like dialogue--the Civility
project.
Incivility is a problem with both liberals and conservative.
Be respectful of adversaries.
Write nice letters.
Let each esteem others better than himself. - Phillipians
1st amendment gives right to demonize with public speech but it
doesn't make it right.
Conduct yourself with love.
Disagree without being disagreeable Quentin l cook
Can't claim to be a follower of Christ without treating others civilly.

Most people associate wisdom with age power affluence or importance.
Know that wisdom can come from the mouth of babes.

Ways to get wise
1. Spend time with wise people
2. Read the textbook -the Bible- Proverbs
Read a chapter a day. All 31 each month.
3. Ask for it. It comes down from above. James 1:5

If you see a turtle on a fence post, he didn't put himself there.
There are no self made men. God puts us where we are.
There are self starters. God won't get us going.
He started a successful public relations firm, I could start a medical
equipment testing firm.

Losing a family member gets you thinking about death.
God set limits of our time.
Be aware of that limit.
Have a sense of purpose.

By following God, if you gain you gain all. If you lose, you lose nothing.
When you get to the top there is nothing there. The affluence of the
world offers nothing.

Christ is center of all. Following him always brings happiness.
Love your wife.

Both our eternity and life ahead depend on how we answer. Now what?

Busy Busy Busy

Wow. I actually remembered to write in my journal. Not a lot feels
journal worthy yet. Really busy week but things aren't going well with
my new job as a handyman. Half of my jobs I was assigned to are tasks
that take a crew. One of them was a flooded basement. I had to drive
all the way out to South Jordan. It hailed hard on the way home.
Traffic on the freeway moved so slow that it took two hours to move
forty miles. I was late to come do my calling as assistant executive
secretary who waits outside during the interviews and schedules
followup. The indestructible titanium ring I designed came to Fred
Meyer this week and I picked it up. Now I'm in limbo waiting for when
I can be with janell again. I'm keeping occupied though. I've got a
bunch of girls and guys from the ward over to my apartment to watch
yes man. We had a great potluck too. I made biscuits and gravy and
stroganoff.

Splendid Date

I essentially just had a 48 hour date with Janell. She came for the weekend and stayed at her cousin Kimi's apartment on her and her husband's couch. It was wonderful that she came down here for the weekend. She got a ride down here with a family from Wisconsin. I picked her up at the freeway exit and brought her and her cousin Kaytlen to her brother Benjamin's apartment in Riverton. In Riverton the four of us enjoyed chab chae, a Korean stir fry that I made from scratch. My parents made it for dinner for years, somehow I was never around before while they cooked that particular recipe. The stir fry turned out wonderful and I cooked exactly the right amount. I was really stressed about it. We then visited for a bit with my cousin Chris, his wife Marla, and their son Kaden. Janell and I played cars with Kaden for a while. They are expecting another boy in a few weeks. We then went together to fix a latch on a shed for a handyman job I got working for Armstrong property management. I might get more work with them in the future.

Saturday morning we went to do baptisms for the dead at the Provo temple. The temple workers are all really good at making sure that Janell and I can be together a lot and that I can perform the ordinances that she is a proxy for. The temple makes a great date. They are experienced with making things nice for a couple.

We made pork soup at my apartment for lunch and then we did homework together for a while on campus. In the evening we had a nice dinner at Tami and Dave Trujillos in West Jordan and then went to see the opera Rigaletto in Salt Lake City. I scored fourth row seats (normal value $120 a ticket) for $15 each at the student rate. We were lucky to get seats together last minute. We could see down into the orchestra pit.

This morning I surprised her that I walked down to Kimi's to get her even though I made a big deal of telling her how to get to my apartment from there to have breakfast together at multi-purpose building.

We went to my ward together and she met my ward. My bishop was especially excited to meet her. I gave a talk in sacrament meeting. Got up without notes or my scriptures, shared several experiences, a couple stories from President Monson, and my testimony. Didn't surprise anyone that as soon as I had given my talk I went and sat down with Janell. My talk was followed by Elder Lund of the 5th quorum of the 70. His talk was all about being guided by the Spirit while giving a talk rather than reading off notes. He used me as an example. After my talk I had everyone telling me how amazing my talk was.

Janell went home this evening. I'm waiting for her to get home so I can say good night.

On Thursday before she got here, I went to Fred Meyer Jeweler and ordered the ring. I'm planning to propose to her in four weeks. I made a plan for her to do a scavenger hunt with the GPS as a Liahona to get to me and the ring where I will propose.

Julie B Beck. Byu devotional

Julie B Beck. Byu devotional
Generalna predsednika društve za pomoč
Reason for quorums and Relief Societies
Functioning branch requires rs president and eq president
Both organized under priesthood acting with authority for specific stewardship
Society/quorum analogous meaning
* increase faith
* increase righteousness
* unify the unit
We need help and support.
* organize under priesthood following God's pattern
* Bishop cannot possibly do all
* other leaders are undershepherds
Sustaining leaders is part of God's pattern
Following inspired patterns facilitates revelation
* focuses on work of salvation
Entry into rs eq shows result of a great deal of preparation by ward and family
Saving souls requires whole range of human activity and development
Each ward is unique
Evaluate individual abilities
Love enemies
Be perfectv
Ht vt never done
Keep commandments continually too
Stand ready to assist
Live up to you privileges by staying worthy
Many quorums are sleeping giants
Be ready to breathe new life into them.

Family Dinner

Everywhere I go, I have family around, even down here in Provo.

Yesterday, Naomi drove down here from Pocatello where she's working on her nursing degree. I went to the temple in the morning while she was driving down here. We had lunch together. We got food to go at a nice Hawaiian cafe, Bamboo Hut, and then went up to Rock Canyon Park to eat it as a picnic. We came toured campus and played around at the Eyring Science Center. When we were in the bookstore, my mom tried to spot us on the Bookstore cameras, but could not see us.

We did homework for a while and had dinner together at my apartment. Naomi was upset that she was not allowed to use my bathroom and was supposed to go down to the multi-purpose building, two doors down, to use the restroom. The rules didn't stop her and she used my bathroom when my roommates weren't home. Last night we went to see Captain America in the campus theater. It was exciting but had a really sad ending. I enjoy it more when the guy gets the girl in the end. We came back here for a bit and then Naomi drove back to Pocatello and got there at 1am this morning.

I'm in the same ward as Janell's cousin Kaytlen. She lives in the apartment across the street from me. She invited me to come to the Jones' clan (Provo branch) family dinner. I made and brought crepes. My first time making an apple filling and it turned out perfect. They weren't expecting me to bring anything, even though everyone else did it potluck style. Hm. Had fun, but I really wish Janell was there. Wish I could throw prudence to the wind and go visit her every weekend. Janell's extended family already considers me family, since they are sure I'm going to ask Janell to marry me, and they are justified in making that assumption,

Apart from Janell's cousins, I have family in Orem, though I don't here from Sarah or her husband Kelvin. I also have family in Salt Lake and Tami and Dave Trujillo consider me family and they live in West Jordan.

I still have the referral center elders, past and current, who consider me family and would do anything for me. Those missionaries and RMs are amazing.

Today I also received a calling, was sustained, set apart, went to lots of meetings for it, and started doing it. I was called as the Assistant Executive Secretary.

Masters and More

Made on math software at WSU

I've decided again to make this blog private. As a missionary, I needed to be transparent. I had a calling to represent the Lord in a way that is quite unique. I'm still a witness of the Savior, though my life doesn't need to be as transparent as it was before. In I think I might allow those closer to me to gradually see this blog if I don't die of embarrassment from my journaling first. Considering how I feel about past journaling, this might be short-lived, I don't like reviewing past perspectives. I still have my goal though to write in my journal at least once a week though. My journal has evolved with the tools available since I started keeping a journal at eight. When I was baptized, it started with a leather bound book with page numbers, date lines, and scrolling gold print on the front. As a Senior in high school and on my mission my journal became a composition notebook. At the time I could overcome my hesitancy to record my thoughts and activities by convincing myself that I was keeping a lab report. Eventually, I've come to the realization that this perspective suggests that I myself am the lab subject. That was a frightening thought. I've returned to my mission blog now.