Announcing…

Ezekiel Frost Nielson

Born Tuesday, 5 September 2017, 6:29 a.m.

8 lbs 14 oz.; 21" long

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With fervent desire

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Sunday Morning Session of the April 1977 Conference.

You've probably seen this video of President Packer's parable, The Mediator. I've always liked it, but I haven't ever read the whole talk before. Here was my favorite part, which was not even part of the story, but a personal note about why he told it:

I have carried with me a great desire to bear testimony of the Lord, Jesus Christ. I have yearned to tell you in as simple terms as I can, what He did, and who He is. Although I know how poor mere words can be, I know also that such feelings are often carried by the spirit, even without words. At times I struggle under the burden of imperfections. 

Nevertheless, because I know that He lives, there is a supreme recurring happiness and joy. There is one place where I am particularly vulnerable—when I know that I have abused someone, or caused them hurt, or offended them. It is then I know what agony is. 

How sweet it is, on those occasions, to be reassured that He lives, and to have my witness reaffirmed. I want, with fervent desire, to show you how our burdens of disappointment, sin, and guilt can be laid before Him, and on His generous terms have each item on the account marked, “Paid in Full.”

I love this glimpse into the personal feelings of a man I have so looked up to. He felt inadequate and imperfect. He hated to hurt people—but he knew he DID sometimes hurt people, and this caused him great anguish. His testimony of Jesus Christ's atonement brought him actual comfort for his actual struggles. And he wanted, "with fervent desire," to share that comfort with everyone else! It gave me a different perspective on this talk, thinking about President Packer writing it with that personal goal in mind.

It also makes me wonder what things the general authorities who are preparing their talks for Conference right now want to tell us. What insights do they have a "fervent desire" for us to gain? I read an Ensign article today about another apostle who asked President Eyring for input on the 22nd draft of his talk for Conference. President Eyring says:

In general conference twice a year, we are blessed with the opportunity to hear the word of the Lord for us from His servants. That is a privilege beyond price. But the value of that opportunity depends on whether we receive the words under the influence of the same Spirit by which they were given to those servants… Just as they receive guidance from heaven, so must we. And that requires of us the same spiritual effort…

The servants of God fast and pray to receive the message He has for them to give to those who need revelation and inspiration….To gain the great benefits available from hearing living prophets and apostles, we must pay the price ourselves of receiving revelation.

I know the General Authorities have the fervent desire to bring us closer to Christ. Do we have an equal desire to receive their wisdom?

Are we ready for it?

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Priesthood Session of the April 1977 Conference.

My interest was caught as I read President Spencer W. Kimball's talk "Our Great Potential," when he started talking about Priesthood Keys we don't yet have on the earth. He brought up resurrection, which is one of the only ones I could think of offhand, but he also mentioned the power to create spirits, the power to control the elements, and the power to manipulate and organize matter. He quoted a lot from Brigham Young and other early church leaders.

It was interesting because this is the sort of thing we don't talk a lot about in church…it seems more esoteric, I guess, or less relevant to our progression now. But President Kimball wasn't just speculating or wondering—he was coming to a specific point:

Can you realize even slightly how relatively little we know? As Paul said, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” (1 Cor. 2:9.) 

We talk about the gospel in its fulness; yet we realize that a large part is still available to us as we prepare, as we perfect our lives, and as we become more like our God. Are we ready for it? In the Doctrine and Covenants we read of Abraham, who has already attained godhood. He has received many powers, undoubtedly, that we would like to have and will eventually get if we continue faithful and perfect our lives.

I was thinking about how it's sometimes hard to want to do much thinking about "perfection." For me, at least, it seems so far away that incremental thinking is easier: in other words, "well, ____ is too hard right now, but at least I can do ______." I guess this is probably okay (and I've read other talks that give great ideas about willingness to fail, and about changing bit by bit, line upon line). However, President Kimball's words combined with a story in another talk I read this week made me reconsider my reluctance to dwell on the "perfect" solution:

A few years ago a large American computer company decided to have some parts manufactured by a Japanese supplier as a trial project. The American company told the Japanese firm it would accept up to 2 percent defective products in the 10,000-piece order. Later, the shipment arrived with 100 percent of the order without defects. In a separate box was a note: “Sorry, we do not understand American company production practices. However, this box contains the 2 percent defective product you wanted. Sorry for the delay in producing, but these parts had to be made separately, which required changing our process in order to make the bad product. Hope this pleases you.” 

This was from a BYU Devotional talk I read by a professor in the Manufacturing Engineering and Engineering Technology Department. He explained:

When we design a part we always determine a target dimension that is the desired value at which the part should be produced. Making the part to that value results in the “perfect” product. Because every process has variation and it is difficult to produce exactly to the target value each time, every part also comes with tolerance limits. These limits are the amount of deviation from the target we can tolerate and still expect the part to function at least reasonably well. If there is more deviation from target than the tolerance limit allows, the part will be rejected. However—and this point is critical—as soon as the part deviates from target, it is in error, and the farther a part deviates from the target, even if it is within the tolerance limit, the worse it performs. 

Some companies are concerned only with producing products within the tolerance limits, but wise companies constantly seek to produce on target. The differences between these companies in focus and attitude are quite significant, as are the results. The difference comes not because of the distance, which is often only a couple thousandths of an inch. It is the difference between an average company and an excellent company. For a company to move from the tolerance mind-set to the target mind-set requires an entirely different way of looking at targets, processes, tolerance limits, and improvement. It is a new way of thinking. 

Companies that desire to produce excellent products are not satisfied at producing just within tolerance. They strive, constantly and forever, to produce at target. And they believe it is possible. Average companies, or those that are known for average or poor quality, tend to focus on the tolerance limits because they believe being just within the limits is good enough.

He goes on to discuss the application:

Think of it this way. Imagine yourself on a line between the target value, or the mark of perfection, on one side and the tolerance limit on the other. We can ask ourselves, “Which way am I facing?” and “What do I take as my guide?” If the tolerance limit is my guide, then my tendency is to move as close to the limit as I can and, if at all possible, try to relax those limits to make more of my behaviors allowable. However, there is an even bigger problem with facing the tolerance limit. It is that my back is to the target. I am not looking toward the mark of perfection. Also, since I am facing the limit, if the limit moves, then I move with it and, therefore, accept more defective behavior. 

On the other hand, if I am facing the target, the mark of perfection, and constantly striving to reach that mark, then my back will be to the tolerance limits. If the limits move, they have no effect on me because my focus is not on the relaxing tolerance but on approaching the mark of perfection.

I know there is a place for incremental learning and approximation. It's what we all HAVE to do, because we're imperfect mortals! But from these talks, I'm thinking about how a focus on perfection—a willingness to look for it, and try for it—is not incompatible with incremental learning! As this professor said, the difference is not so much in the actual products (or in a person's case, the actual behaviors) but in the focus and mindset of looking toward the target! We somehow need to be willing to make Christlike perfection our goal and focus—and also ready to accept whatever discomfort that awareness may cause us!

I am sometimes afraid to think ahead to the eventual goals of godhood and perfection. I'm afraid of getting too discouraged or overwhelmed. I'm afraid of losing sight of the simpler things [Similarly, President Romney's talk in this session encouraged seeking the ultimate promise of the Holy Ghost and having your calling and election made sure, which is another thing I've heard can cause people to stumble if they get too focused on it. But perhaps I have gone too far in deciding not to think about it at all?] But as described in the BYU talk I quoted, focusing on "the target" is essential if I really want to improve. And "the target," is, of course, Jesus Christ. Studying His perfect life and seeking to be like Him may indeed be overwhelming, but it is the only way to become like Him!

So, I appreciated President Kimball's reminder that there are many, many great gifts and powers still to come in our progression, and that we should be pondering them and even actively seeking after them. And I appreciated President Romney's reminder that we can always be more urgently striving toward not just glimpses, but "the full light of Christ." I'm hoping to figure out a way to balance a reasonable awareness of my limitations, with a stronger focus on Christ and His perfection—and on the amazing things He can make possible for me!


Other posts in this series:

• Power Beyond This World by Jan Tolman

Eclipse trip: the non-eclipse and non-Yellowstone part

We always become so fond of the rental houses we stay in. Teddy called this one our "Cabin House" and soon we were all calling it that. It was in a much less-wooded area of Island Park than the place we stayed last time, so it felt very different. This place had a wrap-around porch, with beautiful views of the sunset across the open meadows. We loved it.

One of the first thing the boys did upon arriving was to put up their hammocks. These were hung in many configurations over the few days we stayed here.

Triple-decker!

Inside, the kids loved all the animal skins (pelts?) and…busts? Heads? Are they just called heads?

Eclipse Trip: "Yellowbone"

…(as Teddy referred to it)…is such an amazing place. We love it, but when we visited there last year, I figured we probably wouldn't be back for a long time, since there are SO many cool places I want to visit even just here in the Western U.S., that there just isn't time for repeats! Except…that most places we go end up being so great that we WANT to repeat them. Sigh. Anyway, sometime last August, I looked at the calendar and realized that the total solar eclipse was finally coming up (in a year)! I had been looking forward to it for years, having always vowed I would see a total eclipse someday, and once I did some research I learned that the Snake River Valley in Idaho was a great place to see it!

So, I made reservations right then for a rental house in Island Park, and with Yellowstone being so close, we were delighted to realize that we WOULD have time for a repeat visit in the few days before the eclipse! Hooray!

When the time finally came, we were happy to have my mom with us on the trip too, and in addition to her devising all sorts of clever games to play with the kids in the back seats (thus keeping the arguments/fighting in the van to about 50% less than usual), it was fun to have her along because she could remind us what Yellowstone was like when she last visited, which was when I was about 4 years old. AND she was another pair of hands for the little ones to hold (the most popular pair of hands, naturally) which made the hiking much easier!

Sebastian said, "I think the worst thing about having a big family is having to stop at the bathroom so often." Yes, there was a lot of that.

Teddy seemed like a whole different boy on this trip! He was hiking under his own power (mostly), he was commenting on things, he was pointing out geysers…he has truly become an actual person during this year! (And I had forgotten until reading about it here…or perhaps repressed the memories…about how he SCREAMED nonstop while being carried in the backpack last year! And he was so HEAVY!) This year he was pleasant and darling and liked everything, and it was so fun to watch him taking it all in! Sebastian especially liked showing and telling Teddy about all the things we were doing, and then they'd reminisce about them as we drove home at night.

Because we'd been here so recently, and because everyone was warning about crowds and madness due to the eclipse, I thought maybe we should just skip Old Faithful and that whole area. But Sam thought it wouldn't be that bad, and he was right! We tried to get there fairly early in the morning, which helped. And there were crowded areas, but mostly later in the day, and really no worse than the crowds in the prime of summer season (end of June) we encountered last year.

Last year after seeing Old Faithful, we looked up the other "predictable" geysers (there are about five or six of them that have a fairly regular eruption schedule) and realized there was no way we could arrange to be in the right places at the right times to see them all. Some have a predicted time, "plus or minus six hours," and who has time to sit around and wait for that? We just assumed you had to get lucky to see any of them, or waste your whole day waiting.

But there are tons of cool things to see even when the geysers aren't erupting, so we started off around Upper Geyser Basin while we waited for the next Old Faithful eruption.

The Lion Group of geysers erupt frequently—we were happy to walk by while this one was erupting, and get sprayed with a lovely mist of water. (At least…I was happy. Teddy didn't want to get wet!) There was even a rainbow in the mist! It was lovely.

Baptism and Fire

That title sounds like I must be saying "Baptism BY fire," which I guess would also be a good post, but what I really mean is that we had Daisy's baptism, and then that evening we went up the canyon and had a campfire for Seb's birthday. It was such a fun and happy day. Full of good things! First, the baptism, of course. Daisy was so bright and happy and glowing all day long! It made me smile just to look at her. We did her hair in Danish braids just like I had at MY baptism!

I'd gotten this white dress for her a few months earlier, so in June when the daisies were blooming by the lake, we went and took some pictures by them (as is our custom every year).

Oh how I love her. And her name. What name could be better? I'm sure there isn't one.

And then this August before the baptism, Junie and Daisy and I took a few pictures by the temple too. So fun.

After the baptismal service we had Belgian Sugar Waffles with homemade yogurt and lemon curd and strawberry sauce and cream, and before everyone got completely coated with strawberry sauce, we attempted a quick family picture on the porch. This one seemed pretty good. "This is everyone, right?" I kept saying.

Oops. Forgot Junie. We tried again. 

Well. Close enough.

It was so pretty at sunset in the canyon. And so nice to just sit and not do ANYTHING except watch the fire and listen to the birds and crickets, and see the kids going around and climbing on things and exploring.

And scraping their shins, of course.

Sam, working on two huge freelance projects at the same time, wasn't quite doing NOTHING…but at least he was doing it in a pretty location! Every time I tried to get a picture of him in his serious drawing-concentration mode, he sensed it and looked up at the camera. When I asked why, he said it was because he didn't want be captured looking like "THIS." "THIS" being…well, I will respect his wishes and not show you…but this is Sebastian's imitation of it:

Which Sam then imitated back.

That sparked a scourge of VERY silly faces. I tried, with minimal success, to be disapproving.

I love this. Teddy's dimply elbow and little hand on Malachi's shoulder.

This whole post is—possibly—just an excuse to put up pictures of Teddy eating marshmallows.

And firelight pictures, of course. We can't ever have enough of those!