A Sad Day for Us All

Happy Spring! Last week was wonderful with temperatures in the mid 60’s and we were finally crawling our way out of a long grey uninspiring winter season. The warmth of the sun was so welcomed on the face and hope was restored that green grass will soon replace the crusty brown stubble. Then Friday rolls around and the mercury drops into the teens and 6 inches of snow falls is a day long decent into a late chill of winter. The cold white blanket only dampened the spirits for a day because in true Rocky Mountain fashion the sun ruled the sky on Saturday, the warmth returned, and the snow melted. It was warm enough for grab the grandkids and head to the sledding hills. We poked our thumb in old man winter’s eye as we giggled and slid on the snow that hopefully was the final taste of this winter’s freeze. I love Spring.
I believe that our fleckless congress will vote today to condemn your and your kid’s future to a massive servitude to the federal government. They are going to approve the Senate’s Health Care Bill and it is a disaster. I support health care reform, but not this. Obama will win this round on his march to “change” this country. With chilling speed he has introduced the government into so many aspects of our life where it doesn’t belong – finance, auto, health care etc. This is way beyond the scope of the original constitution and the design of this government.
They claim with great pride three major accomplishments with this bill. 1. Covering 30,000,000 Americans who aren’t covered now by insurance, 2. Eliminating pre-existing conditions for health insurance, 3. “Reducing the deficit by $180 billion in 10 years. I like these goals too, but this bill does not accomplish these goals and it introduces huge problems into a fragile system.
1. 30,000,000 new patients when the current system can barely handle the patient load now. Payments to doctors are being reduced and malpractice insurance will rise. There aren’t enough general care physicians now and that number will drop. The unintended consequence of this bill will be to reduce medical services to all Americans.
2. No pre-existing conditions in place sounds great but there are other ways to accomplish this noble goal, and not as described in the bill. Imagine no accounting for speeding tickets or age with car insurance – the bad drivers will pay less and the good drivers will pay more – doesn’t make sense. Or if a life insurance company starts writing life policies on a recent heart attack patient or someone diagnosed with cancer. Let’s pay a $5,000 premium to buy a $1,000,000 policy and then the patient dies within a short time, what happens to the insurance company. It will go out of business and then the government will have to take over. That is what they want.
3. Reduce the deficit….who are they kidding. They are double counting some taxes and banking on cutting $500 billion from current Medicare. They can’t cut $5 billion from Medicare without the Dems screaming bloody murder. They are lying!!!! Medicare and Medicaid are broke now, and there is no way they will cut another Half a Trillion dollars with serious cut backs in medical services. Pray you don’t get sick in the future.

The bill does help with the jobs program – 17,000 IRS agents will be hired to
monthly monitor our lives to make sure we are signed up on this “great” program.
If it is so great why do we need hall monitors to control our lives this way?
If it is so great why is there no bi-partisan support?
If it is so great why does 55% of the American people hate the bill and only 35% support it?
If it is so great why do the democrats have to bribe their own member to vote for the bill with our money?
If it is so great why do the democrats have to be threatened by the party if they don’t vote for it?
If it is so great why are members of congress asked to vote for the party and not what the people they represent want?
If it is so great why have 38 states begun the process to legally prevent the application of the bill in their state?
If it is so great why does the government have to fine people if they don’t sign up for it?
If it is so great why have so many major corporations that had supported Obama, now complaining that this bill will cost them hundreds of millions of dollars?
If it is so great why doesn’t the President feel he has to dirty the office of the President by lying to the American people?

Because it ISN’T great – the price we are paying to insure more American and eliminate pre-existing conditions is criminally high with this bill. We could allow competition across state lines, apply tort reform, remove government red tape, improve private insurance companies, and accomplish those goals without the government take over, but it really isn’t about health care it is about more government control. We are less a country for this type of reform.

New Camera; New Blog

Our old camera died and so I couldn't blog for a while, but we got a new camera yesterday and so I can start blogging again.

Not much going on here. It is the lull time of the year without too much fun activity. We have a funny little elder as one of the missionaries – Elder Dalton. He is a clean freak and the basement looks brand new. He is incredible. He has completely cleaned and organized the back area in the basement with the food storage. Straighten up the book case and made the extra bed and neatly stacked the games. The entire carpeted are is vacuumed almost daily and the couch is rearranged to give the maximum space to the recreation area. Even the kitchen area is neat and clean and the garbage gets taken out every week. It even smells nice down there. But that is just the surface stuff. He completely took apart the camping and blanket closet and cleaned it up, removed all the dead mice, and threw away the canned apricots that had been there since 1992 and leaked all over the basement floor. The zebra room is orderly and ready for guests with uniform hangers and space in the closet for storage. To top things off he tackled the incredibly chaotic and random storage room where you could barely walk through and now there is enough room in there to throw a party and have room to dance. But I had to stop him the other night. Some banging woke me up at 11:30 at night and I poked my head out of the bedroom to find Elder Dalton with a broom cleaning cobwebs from the ceiling. I told him to go to bed and he just laughed and headed on downstairs. I think I may be able to convince mom for us to move downstairs because it is cleaner there and we may make Elder Dalton a permanent offer to set him up in a house cleaning business in Denver after his mission.

Naples, Florida

What a great weekend. It was my awards and contest winning trip to Naples, Florida with mom staying at the Ritz Carlton. It was right on the beach and the sunsets were magnificent. The meals were superb and I must have gained 10 lbs. During our one free afternoon we did something I always wanted to do. We drove down to the Everglades, hopped on an airboat and zipped around the mangrove swamps and grassland hunt’n gators. We saw quite a few; they were all over the place. Even while driving along the road they were out there on the little patches of grass by the side of the road. It was a fun way to spend an afternoon. I will never forget my trip to Naples, FL.

News from Don

We got a surprise call from Don last night at midnight and he sounded great. He is working hard in the Helmand province Afghanistan. His company has been involved in a big operation in Now Zad called Operation Cobra’s Anger. It got a bit of news coverage and if you look at the attached video clips you may be able to see Don.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCMyynmIM2Y&NR=1

http://www.libnot.com/2009/12/31/marines-of-lima-co-3rd-bn-4th-marine-regiment-make-the-most-for-christmas/

He said he has been feeling the spirit and has made the decision to make the Marines his career. He also said that he has been doing daily scripture study and daily personal prayers. He told me what turned things around for him and it is a good lesson for all of us.

While in Iraq or on base back in the States he had other members around him a lot. His captain was LDS and he had a number of friends who were members of the church. He didn’t realize it at the time, but he liked that association with the spirit and with members. They were all at different starting places but they all were trying to improve their lives to return to Heavenly Father. It is so good to know that the Savior takes us from where we are and can make up the gap rather than demanding we reach an acceptable level of righteousness to qualify for the blessing of his atonement.

In a true case of “you don’t really know what you’ve got, til it’s gone.” Don was transferred to Afghanistan and has no one around him remotely associated with the church. He said he felt the missing spirit and the absence of the comfort of other members. It really bothered him to not be able to feed his spirit, so he prayed and got a spiritual confirmation to read his scriptures, say his prayers and repent. He expressed his joy over the comfort those sweet and simple things have brought into his life. He admitted that he isn’t perfect yet but he is in a good place. He created a hunger for the spirit over the difficulty of his situation. The lesson I take from his experience is that the reward comes when we dig deep into our own soul and figure out for ourselves what Heavenly Father would have us do and then do.

If you haven’t written him please do so and if you have written him…..write again, he loves feeling connected to the family.

Busy Week

Last Saturday afternoon mom and I went to the temple with another couple in the ward to do some sealings for their family names. You may remember when we had you sealed to us in the temple. There were two other couples there we knew from when we were in the Lone Tree ward and it was like how I picture the Celestial Kingdom; families will meet up with old friends and celebrate a lifetime of struggle but ultimate success in the important things. I got to knee across the alter with mom and hold hands look into the “eternity” mirrors and hear the divine words that pronounce us man and wife for time and all eternity. Mom looked so beautiful with her green eyes and large smile. It made for a very special afternoon with her in the temple in that scared sealing room.

On Tues night I was scheduled to go with the missionaries to visit an investigator lady, but she cancelled because of a family emergency. She was in the hospital with her 15 year old daughter who had tried to commit suicide that afternoon by slitting her wrists. We offered to visit them in the hospital and the mom agreed. It was quite a scene at the emergency room. The daughter was a beautiful girl with these large bandages across her wrists and a crushingly sad look in her eyes. She pronounced that there was no God but she and her friends knew there was a Satan because her friend worshiped the devil. I was stunned and my mind went blank and I couldn’t think of anything to say (that doesn’t happen very often). What to say to this young daughter of God who earlier that day had wanted to take her own life and leave this world. The weight of confusion and probably guilt and a dulled conscious had brought her to the edge of a horrible horrible tragedy. She had been flirting with the most serious of sin – the taking of a life but as I watched her face I saw something remarkable.


The young Elder Naylor squatted down at the foot of that girl’s hospital bed and began to teach the gospel of love and repentance and hope and the atonement. His thoughtful act of getting eye level with this girl was so powerful. It directed all her attention to what he was saying and the policeman in the corner and the nurses coming in and out of the room weren’t distractions. Even when the mom interrupted the elder, the daughter said, “Quiet mom, I want to hear what the missionary is saying!” Only hours before she was willing to lose her place on this earth. Now at that moment her shrinking and starving spirit was trying to drink in hope of a loving Heavenly Father and the presence of good in this world. It was a remarkable thing to witness. Then his companion Elder Boyer read a few scriptures from the Book of Mormon that expressed hope and joy and you could see the profound and positive effect of this spiritual food on a famished soul. I talked a little of the power of the Atonement and it’s promise, that He has paid for our sins and that He will never leave us alone. No matter how stained or troubled our lives have become. The Elders gave her a blessing, and we headed out.

It was so funny, I entered and left that hospital with two young 20 year old goofballs, but while we were in that hospital room, when the Savior needed to be there to buoy up a lost soul, they became valiant representatives of Jesus Christ and spoke with the voices of angels. It was an honor to be there with them.

On Wed night it was crazy at the temple. I knew it was going to be something special when I couldn’t find a parking space which is usually so easy to find. The patrons just kept coming and we ended up setting a new record for the number of endowment done, over 240. We had to add on not one but two sessions to accommodate everyone. The sealing rooms were all filled, initiatory was overflowing and there were folding chairs up and down the hallways for people to sit waiting to start a session. We had to press any warm body we could find into service to get the veils done. I kept wondering if this group knew something about the second coming that we all should have known. I finally left the temple an hour later than usual with very sore feet but a great big smile.

Interesting Missionary Experience

I have a funny missionary story to tell you. I was visiting with a new client in Broomfield and they are Jehovah Witness’s. The wife asked me what church I went to and I told them the LDS or Mormon Church. She said she loved the Mormons and their solid family beliefs. In fact she had recently visited with the missionaries at the door and had accepted a Book of Mormon from them. She said she like to understand other beliefs and was interested in reading the book.

Then her 12 year old son in the other room yelled out, “Mom, you threw that Book away!”

Mom said, “You are mistaken, I liked the book.”

Son said, “You told me it had the spirit of the devil!”

Mom said to me. “I’d been having these headaches and nightmare, so I threw out a bunch of stuff that might be causing my suffering.”

The son said, “Mom you only threw out the Mormon Book!”

The lady was turning red and then said, “Sorry”

The boy then said, “I got a Book of Mormon from my friend at school”

The mom said to me, “See we already had a Book of Mormon around.”

The son fired back, “But mom you made me throw that Book away too!!!”

At this point the mom told the boy to go back to doing his homework. She later went in to him and told him, “not to say such things because it might embarrass someone.” She was right it embarrassed her a ton.

I was also in a very tough competitive situation this week and on Friday I was on the phone with the client while the competitor was sitting with the family and we were both presenting to them and “discussing” the relative merits and problems with each others solutions. It was very intense, but at the end I got the other planner to agree that my plan was better for the clients. This contact could lead into working with a whole group of retirees from Coors and it could be great. We shall see. Prayer for me.

Happy New Year

I have been reading a few things about developing as a man and am going to pen some different New Year's Resolutions this year. In the past I've divided goals into Spiritual, Physical, Social, Intellectual items but that isn't where I want to head this year. I want to be a better person and so here are my ten New Year's Resolutions:

1. Listen to the promptings of the spirit - when I get those flashes I need to act. The missionaries failed to meet some non-members we had over for dinner tonight because they didn't listen to a prompting and I don't want to miss opportunities.

2. Forgive others - even the most difficult ones to forgive. I don't need to extra weight of carrying grudges.

3. Honest in all my doings - especially with clients. I may not be the smartest but I can be honest and trustworthy.

4. Less personally competitive - I want to feel more joy at the good news of others, less emphasis on money, and more value placed on giving.

5. I want to be more thankful and grateful - this leads to greater happiness and is as easy as changing ones mind and prospective.

6. Let virtue garnish my thoughts - think and see the good in others.

7. Patience - that even means in traffic situations and when I'm running late.

8. Kindness - to speak and act with others in mind. Don't pick on the weak and look for opportunities to serve.

9. Speak out for the Savior - use opportunities to talk about my beliefs and my love of the Savior.

10. Love others - what would make Tracy happy, how can I help the family, doing a good job at my church calling, and if there is a way I can help someone I need to step up and do something.

I would encourage you all to help me with these personal goals - I want to be a better disciple of Christ.