One preview of pictures from our sealing day

Check out this photo! This was sent to us by our photographer as a preview of her work. I love this photo!!! More will follow...

Getting Sealed!!!!!!!!

Can I tell you how happy Jessi and I are?!!! We received a letter from the First Presidency last week granting our family's request to get sealed. Immediately we went into full operations mode to get all the details worked out with the Temple, our local Priesthood leaders, our families, a photographer, and the Olive Garden Restaurant. The day of all days is tomorrow, Saturday, November 29, 2008.

The day we received the letter, I had gone out to the mailbox to check for new mail. Over the last month or so, Jess and I have been vigilantly looking for that special envelope from the First Presidency. Well, on this day, I saw it in there and freaked out! I hurried back to the apartment and woke up Jess from her nap without any reservation, because I knew she would be absolutely ecstatic. I was right. :-)

Generally, people's reactions have included, "It's finally happened!" We have been through one heck of a "process" to get to this point. I don't want to go into any details, but we had significant opposition from outside sources (in addition to the adversary and his minions), and we are very grateful that we have overcome everything that's come our way. The Lord has answered our prayers, and our family is more than ready to enjoy the blessings of the Holy Temple.

Something to Ponder This Week (2008 08 04)

As I was pondering upon what to recommend for pondering this week ;-) , a passage from the Book of Mormon came to mind. It reads like this: "...for there is a God, and he hath created all things, both in the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are, both things to act and things to be acted upon" (see 2 Nephi 2:14, emphasis added). Ever since I was about 16 years old, this concept of acting or being acted upon has caused me to reflect upon the way I live my life. Do I choose the current of my life or does the current of life choose me? Certainly you and I cannot control everything that happens, but we do hold the rudder...or at least we can.

Something to Ponder this Week (2008 07 28)

This week the power of prayer was underscored for me again. My two-month-old daughter Jocelyn was admitted to the hospital with an extremely high fever, and it turns out that she has a full-fledged case of the flu. How miserable she is feeling! As I held her there at the hospital, I felt helpless. As quickly as that feeling came it was replaced with thoughts that reminded me of God's power to answer prayers. I felt like I was being taught something very significant. Did I not know this before? Yes, I did know it, but for some reason, Heavenly Father likes to give me little reminders that feel like a fresh revelation. Jocelyn will get better, and I feel a quiet--yet powerful--assurance that my prayers will play a part in that process.

Something to Ponder This Week (2008 06 23)

"If the Eiffel Tower were now representing the world's age, the skin of paint on the pinnacle-knob at its summit would represent man's share of that age; and anybody would perceive that that skin was what the tower was built for. I reckon they would, I dunno." - Mark Twain (1835-1910)
(Marshak, Stephen. Essentials of Geology 2e, p. 283.)

My First Post

My wife Jessica and I set a goal a few days ago to start a blog this summer. So far so good. :-) I am very excited to do this! I have all sorts of topics I want to blog on, such as God, family, country, and career.

I have tried to maintain an attitude of openness and learning in all aspects of my life. For example, when I was a missionary in Chihuahua, Mexico, for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I received a companionship assignment in which I would train a brand new missionary. I told him that I expected to learn a lot from him. We enjoyed a very nice companionship.

While it is important to be openminded, it is also important to stick to what you know to be true. This is so with spiritual things as well as with things in accounting. The roles of accountant and auditor are crucial, because so much of society's economic stability relies upon honest financial reporting.

Well, there will be more to come. I look forward to populating this site with my serious thoughts and my not-so-serious thoughts.