My Father; My Example

A couple-three weeks ago I wrote a post called, 'My Mother, DeAnn'. As you can guess, the said post is about my mother, DeAnn. She is a sass of a lass and is the maker of the home I grew up in. Here is a portion of that post, "My mother would not be the woman that she is today without the support and love of my father, Dave. He is the supreme example in my eyes of how to be a husband. It is obvious that my father loves my mother by the way he treats her; the way he holds her hand; the way he talks about her; when he buys her flowers; and even the way he looks at her. He is completely supportive, compassionate, and patient. Because of my father I know what kind of man and husband I need to be. My father epitomizes Elaine S. Dalton's teachings to "love [your children's] mother". What a good egg! While my mother is a wonderful woman who has blessed all of those around her throughout her life she would not be complete without my father. Neither would my father be complete without my mother. They are quite the pair."

I would like to shed some light on this unsung hero. My Dad is simply the greatest. Here is proof:

Here he is at the center of attention, telling yet another hilarious joke.

I could go on and on about my father and how wonderful he is. He is incredibly patient. He is the hardest working person I have ever seen. He openly and affectionately loves and cares for his wife, my mother. He is hilarious (just look at the picture above!). He is the patriarch of his home and family and he has our utmost respect. There are so many great things about my father but the one that I would like to focus on is his worthiness and respect to the priesthood authority that he holds.

As I explained in my post, "Lockout", the authority to act and do things in God's name was lost from the earth for many years after the death of Christ and the rejection of his apostles. Without permission from God to baptize, bless the sacrament, heal people from infirmities, and receive revelation from God for the body of the church the world fell into chaos. People tried to do it by their own authority but this led to divisions within the Christian faith and resulted in man's creation of many churches. However, there is hope. Our loving God reached out to a boy, Joseph Smith, whoh was called to restore Christ's original church to the eart. After the martyrdom of Joseph Smith another worthy and righteous man was called to lead. This same pattern has been followed to the present day in the which we are led by President Thomas S. Monson. He guides and directs us to Christ and eternal joy.

Within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints worthy males have the privilege of receiving this priesthood authority. Its sole purpose is to bless others. One must be worthy to practice the responsibilites contained within. I know of no one better who has lived up to his priesthood covenants than my own father. He is my example of valiance, integrity, and love. I am forever grateful for him because he has shown me how to honor the priesthood, which I have done to the best of my ability for my two years as a missionary and which I vow to continue to honor throughout the rest of my life.

Here is a video narrated by President Thomas S. Monson on how to honor the priesthood and how important it is:

I love my father and I love the priesthood. It is real. It is here today. Live worthy of it. Access it.

Hang On To Hope

Confusion. Sadness. Despair. Anger. Uncertainty. Anxiety. Difficulty.

We all feel dejected at times but I assure you that none of the said strugglings are impossible to overcome. The scriptures teach us that hope is the anchor of our souls (Ether 12:4). The adversary, Satan, wants us to let go of hope. No amount of negativity can destroy true hope anchored in Jesus Christ. He is the bright light to guide us out of our disorientation. The only way for us to become un-anchored is to distance ourselves from the influence of Christ.

Here is one of my favorite drawings ever. By: Jeremy Garcia

I've said it before and I'll say it again. One of my favorite bands is Guster (see my post "Everything Grey"). One of my favorite songs by them is called "Hang On". The message of the song is one of hope:

Hang on

Hang on

When all is shattered

When all your hope is gone

Who knows

How long

There is a twilight

A nighttime and a dawn

We break

We bend

With hand in hand

When hope is gone

Just hang on

Hang on

Guster.



This song teaches that when you feel like letting go is when you most desparately need to hang on. By persevering you prove to yourself that you still have hope in a brighter tomorrow despite your hopeless feelings. You may feel that 'all is shattered' and 'all your hope is gone' but you must remember that it is part of what you have been called and prepared to struggle through. Everything has its purpose.

'There is a twilight, a nighttime, and a dawn'. Life is full of ups and downs and even though "weeping may endure for a night...joy cometh in the morning" (Psalms 30:5). You need to faithfully endure this 'Race of Life' as 'we break [and] we bend'. We are promised that Christ will turn our "mourning into dancing...and [gird us] with gladness" (Psalms 30:11). As we hang on 'hand in hand' with the Savior and those that we love we will experience eternal felicity.