TheDiscipleMD

It has recently come to my attention that a local family with a last name of Bean, named their three children; Boston, Navy and Seven. Another family, believe it or not, named their son Shithead, pronounced, Shi-theed, and still another named all three of their sons John. They go by John I, John II and John III. So, what’s in a name? Well, for some, it can be quite a lot!

I certainly don’t want to demean other families decisions as to what they name their children. But for anyone who has gone through life with an “unusual” name it can be a great curse or perhaps a blessing.

It is interesting how we seem to like names that are associated with those we love or respect no matter how unusual or common. When I first met my wife I had a negative impression of the name “Vickie” because of a bad experience I had with girl of that name that I knew in school. But it didn’t take long before “Vickie” became my favorite name. Why? Well, I associated all the good feelings I had for her with that name. Soon I loved hearing it and saying it.
In the same vein there is no question that as followers of Christ, we leave an impression of the Savior by how we conduct our lives. When people hear the name “Jesus Christ” what comes to their mind. Hopefully it will be a favorable thought. Perhaps, no matter how strange our beliefs seem to be to them, they will be left with good feelings toward the Savior when they see how his followers live their lives.

I have never met Navy, Boston, or Seven Bean. But, if I did, and they were good people, I’m sure their unusual names would take on a different light.
Let us live our lives such that we bring honor to our own name and to that of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

In the spring of 1974, I was a Senior in High School when the High School Baseball team I was a member of was chased indoors by a sudden Thunderstorm. As we played catch in the gym, waiting for the storm to blow over, a conversation ensued between two of my teammates, ending in a challenge. I overheard my wrestling partner, Loran, say, “Pick any two guys on the team and Stephenson and I can beat them in wrestling!” Now the baseball team consisted of a number of huge guys who also played football. I remember thinking, “What is he saying, there is no way we could beat guys twice our size!” Both Loran and I had just finished the wrestling season, where I wrestled at 126 and he at 132 pounds. Although both of us had very successful seasons, was he nuts? As I suspected, the team really got into the challenge and selected two players who were well over 6 feet tall and weighed over 200 pounds. To boot, they were both outstanding athletes. Fortunately, the rain stopped, and we went outside to practice.

However, during the remainder of the practice, I received friendly taunts about how Loran and I would get kicked if we went through with the match. In my heart, I agreed and wasn’t looking forward to a beating, but outwardly, I wore the swagger of a champion, maintaining our superiority and that we would prove it after practice. Soon enough, baseball practice was over, and the whole team headed for the wrestling room. They surrounded the mat, and our 2nd baseman volunteered to be the referee. It looked and sounded like something out of the World Wrestling Federation with whopping, hollering, and chest beating from our opponents.

Loran and I decided he would start, and if he got in trouble or tired, he would tag me. The ref yelled to start, and Loran went after our big 1st baseman with a vengeance. Poor Bobby didn’t know what hit him as Loran took him down and began to bend him like a pretzel. And although big Bobby outweighed him by over seventy pounds, he couldn’t get out from under the tenacity of an experienced wrestler. Loran kept piling up points with Bobby fighting to stay off his back. Loran let him up and reached out and touched my hand. Big Bobby crawled off the mat and touched the hand of Kevin, an all-Metropolitan Football Star. I had watched Loran dismantle Bobby, and I had watched in amazement how a trained wrestler could easily defeat an untrained athlete twice his size. I charged Kevin, took him down, and rolled him over. I will never forget the exhilaration of pinning him, chest to chest, as he struggled. He was so big and I was no match physically, but I had been trained and prepared. He didn’t stand a chance. The referee slapped the mat, signifying we had won. The players had gone quiet. Not a word was spoken as they filed out of the room one by one. Loran and I were the only ones left in the wrestling room. We both looked at each other. Smiles slowly came across our faces, and we both laughed out loud.

The Lord has promised, “If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear.” I learned from that experience that preparation can help small men overcome giant things. You may not be the most educated, nor speak the most eloquent of words. You may not earn a million dollars a year or wear the latest fashions, but if you are prepared, the Lord will guide and direct you against the adversary. If you are prepared, you need not fear man. If you trust in the arm of the Lord, He will lead you to victory. Fear can paralyze good people from doing great things, but if you are prepared, miracles can happen! May we have the fortitude to prepare ourselves through obedience to the commandments and have faith enough in the Lord to have no fear.

TheDiscipleMD

I have often admired the stories of early church leaders who, in the 1800s left home and family, by responding to the prophet’s call to serve missions abroad. How could they have left behind their wives and often children to serve! What courage, faith, determination and testimony, I thought! Such stories litter the rich history of the church. It wasn’t till I became a man that I recognized how the history of such courageous men and women was so closely woven into my own life.

In October of 1946, my Father, 19, married my Mother, 17, in the Salt Lake Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A couple of months later he left her in her parents care and departed his Southern Idaho home on a full-time church mission for two years to the Northwestern States Mission. Once there, he was informed a few months into his mission that my Mother was expecting. I can’t imagine what passed through his mind when the letter arrived bearing the news. Having served a two-year mission myself to Argentina, I was upset when I heard my baby sister was getting married! I really can’t fathom receiving news of becoming a new father while out in the mission field. A few months after my oldest brother was born my mother made her way out to the mission field with their new baby boy. Once there, she stayed a few months and then made her way back home only to discover later that, again, she was expecting.  Fortunately, my Father was able to make it home in time to witness the birth of his second son. If it wasn’t my own parents, I’m not sure I would believe such a story. But, as they often say, sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. Why would a man and a woman sacrifice to do such a thing?

My Mom has long since departed this life, but my Dad once again told  me the reason he ‘would do such a thing’ when I sat down this week and asked him about why he believed in the restoration of the gospel. As I listened to him, I wasn’t listening to a man who was just saying words. This was my Father! A man who I know has dedicated his entire life to the preaching, teaching, and the living of, the principles of the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ. He has walked the walk! He pulled out the Book of Mormon and read me this:

“And now, it came to pass that when King Benjamin had thus spoken to his people, he sent among them, desiring to know of his people if they believed the words which he had spoken unto them. And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord…which has wrought a mighty change… in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually…And we are willing to enter into a covenant with our God to do his will, and to be obedient to his commandments… all the remainder of our day…And now, these are the words which king Benjamin desired of them; and therefore he said unto them: Ye have spoken the words that I desired; and the covenant which ye have made is a righteous covenant…And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name…” (Mosiah 5:1-2, 5-9)

A year earlier, and though raised in the church, as an 18-year-old Navy seaman, my Dad had been truly converted by reading the Book of Mormon and was most impressed by the above verses. Since that time, he has dedicated his life to the building up of the kingdom of God here on earth.  He, like many before, had come to a determination that he did not want to have a “disposition to do evil, but to do good”.  The reading of the Book of Mormon had ‘wrought a mighty change” in his heart that exists to this day. My mother, full of faith, had a similar experience but at a younger age. And that is why a 19-year-old man, leaves his new wife, and goes on a two-year mission for the Lord. And that is why a young woman of 17 marries and then bears two children while supporting her husband in such a glorious cause.

So, as you can see, I don’t need to read the history of the ancient church nor the modern church to draw inspiration from the lives of those who gave their all in building up the kingdom of God here on earth.  I need only kneel over the grave of my Mom or embrace my Father who was married to my Mom on this day so many years gone past. In life and death they both understood and knew that they had become “sons and daughters” of Christ. They have lived and believed in the promises stated that day by King Benjamin:

“Therefore, I would that ye should be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in good works, that Christ, the Lord God Omnipotent, may seal you his, that you may be brought to heaven, that ye may have everlasting salvation and eternal life, through the wisdom, and power, and justice, and mercy of him who created all things, in heaven and in earth, who is God above all.” (Mosiah 5:15)

My Father came home from his mission, graduated from Brigham Young University, and George Washington Law School.  He was later appointed an administrative law judge.  Both he and my mother have been faithful to the covenants they made as a young married couple and have spent their days in building up the kingdom of God.  All the while he and my Mom raised ten kids. Although my two oldest brothers were born under unusual circumstances I stand as a witness that all ten were born to a married man on a mission!

TheDiscipleMd

Many years ago I received an urgent phone call from my brother. He requested a favor of me. The radiator on his car was badly leaking. He needed to go on a business appointment that was about sixty miles away and he wondered if he could switch cars with me. I told him that would be fine but that I had an appointment at the church that night and would his car make it to the church, which was about 10 miles from my office. He said it would, but that I would need to fill the radiator up just before I left. Later on that day he came by and switched cars. As he went out the door he told me that he had a jug full of water in the trunk of the car and that I could use it to fill the radiator. That day was extra busy and I didn’t get out of the office on time as planned. I was running late for an appointment as I hurried out the office door. I jumped into the car and took off for the church. I drove as fast as I could and as I pulled up to the church I could see that my appointment was already standing outside the door waiting. I quickly got out of the car, apologized for my lateness, opened the door and went in. About fifteen minutes later, in the middle of my interview, I heard a knock at the door. There stood a sister of the church with a panicked look on her face. “A car was on fire in the parking lot when I pulled up, so I ran into the church, got the fire extinguisher and sprayed down the car. I also called the fire department and they are on their way.” I couldn’t imagine whose car she could be talking about. I went outside to see the extent of the damage only to find my brothers car completely covered in gunk from the “spraying down,” it had received. Just then the fire engine pulled up and a fireman got off the truck and approached me. After a brief discussion, he surveyed the car, opened the hood and made the determination that the car was just “steaming” due to no water in the radiator. It was then that I remembered that I hadn’t put water in the car per the instruction of my brother. I felt embarrassed. I told him I had forgotten to put water into the car. He gave me a silly grin, and then walked off to the truck. I watched them leave the parking lot and then looked at the poor car, which was now covered in gook.

If I had followed the simple instructions of my brother, a small act wouldn’t have mushroomed into an embarrassingly huge problem that cost me half the night. In a message published in January of 2007, James E. Faust had this to say on the subject:

“C. S. Lewis, a Christian author, gave us a keen insight into devilish tactics. In a fictional letter, the master devil, Screwtape, instructs the apprentice devil Wormwood, who is in training to become a more experienced devil:

“You will say that these are very small sins; and doubtless, like all young tempters, you are anxious to be able to report spectacular wickedness. … It does not matter how small the sins are, provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. … Indeed, the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”

We shouldn’t be beating ourselves up over every little sin or omission. This can be counterproductive. However, we need to be careful to follow the instructions that we are given in our days by living prophets. We need to put the water in the radiator with the help of their guidance! The road of life really is paved with small decisions we make daily that can lead us safely to Heaven or Hell.