The Priesthood: Benefits of Father Figures

I'm now back in Rexburg and classes start tomorrow. Before driving back, I asked my uncle Sam to give me a father's blessing. It is highly encouraged for us to get blessings from our fathers prior to specific moments of our lives; for example, it's appropriate to get one before leaving for a mission or embarking on military service and even before a term of school. I'm pretty sure there are other specific situations that I can't think of off the top of my head where receiving a father's blessing would be appropriate.

Even though my uncle Sam is not my dad, he is a worthy Priesthood holder and I see him as a father figure like how my dad is; I feel that way with all of my uncles in addition to my own father. I feel very blessed to have this quality within my family because not all extended families are close to each other like mine. In the absence of my dad, my uncle stepped up and administered to my needs and help me find comfort and confidence as I prepared once again to face fears of the unknown and battle to control my emotions at the start of another semester of school at BYU-Idaho.

You probably noticed the term "father figure" in the title is plural. Well it's because I believe in multiple father figures. At the same time, I realized how much I've taken for granted the benefits of the relationships I share with my extended family. I've said it before and I'll say it again: it's a real benefit in having family close to where I'm going to school.

I love my family (immediate and extended). It takes priority in my life over everything else and nothing is going to take that value away from me. I have a testimony in the importance of families. In tough times when good friends aren't around, members of family will be the best friend.

April 2013 General Conference Highlights

Well, among all the studying going on for classes (and final exams coming up), this weekend was General Conference weekend. I had to multi-task in order to listen... Well, I take that back; I was hardly listening at all while I was getting my homework done so I really can't go off on much. But I managed to attend Priesthood Session at the Ashton, Idaho Stake Center while staying with my relatives over the weekend. I think my all-time highlight came from President Dieter F. Uchtdorf's address. The following words are the things that stood out to me the most:

"Serving God and our fellowmen will challenge us and transform us into something greater than we ever thought possible. Perhaps you might think that you are not needed, that you are overlooked or unwanted, that you are nobody. I am sincerely sorry if any priesthood holder feels this way. Certainly you are not overlooked or unwanted by your Heavenly Father. He loves you. And I tell you with certainty that you are needed by your Church. Do you not know that “God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to [put to shame] the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to [put to shame] the things which are mighty”? Perhaps it is true that we are weak. Perhaps we are not wise or mighty. But when God works through us, no one and nothing can stand against us. This is why you are needed. You have your own special contribution to make, and God can magnify that contribution in a mighty way."

I've certainly felt somewhat useless and even under appreciated from time to time. During my missionary service in the Japan Nagoya Mission, my Mission President emphasized repeatedly with passion on the the subject of gratitude and I suppose his influences have helped me to be a little more grateful for a lot of things taken for granted. There have been many times I've done things for people and even the church and I never got a single "Thank you" out of it. And a simple expression of gratitude can be enough to make a person's day worth while. While attending the Salem, Oregon Young Single Adults (YSA) Branch, I had three callings: Branch Missionary, Sunday School Pianist, and Family Home Evening (FHE) Photographer. 

As a Branch Missionary, I found myself working with the full-time missionaries often and I have certainly enjoyed it. We even had an Elder from Japan serve in our Branch for a few months and I certainly felt blessed (and I'm pretty sure he felt the same way!) to have been able to work and communicate with each other in our native languages. As for my other two callings, I fulfilled them to the best of my abilities.

I'm almost embarrassed to mention this, but my skills as a pianist are limited. There are only a handful of Hymns I can play off the bat; any others I want to learn will take me time and practice, but mostly a lot of time. I absolutely hate it when people in charge of the music ask me to play something I don't know or can't read. I hate it when people expect me to play something because personally, I don't care about "their" expectations; they just don't matter to me in the long run. I mentioned this before, and I'll mention it again: the only expectations that matter the most are one's own aligned with God's will. 

I really had fun serving as the Branch FHE photographer mainly because I got into the hobby of aircraft spotting and aviation photography. A result of this little hobby of mine is posting those photos up on my online aviation photo gallery through social media. My YSA Branch also utilized the social media so at least once a week, I've been able to put up photos of our weekly FHE activities. 

As I said before, I really enjoyed this calling. I will admit however, feeling somewhat under appreciated from time to time for showing up every Monday night to take photos for the sake of memories. As a photographer, I rarely end up being in the photos. I can recall maybe two or three people thanking me directly for my efforts. Regardless of that, I made the effort to be selfless by fulfilling my callings to the best of my abilities.

This is one of many reasons why I believe in this saying: "The church is true. The members are not." And for the most part, I believe in that saying because we're all imperfect. From experiences in the mission field, I have witnessed and heard of this far too many times, especially to fairly new members of the church over there. The things they have to do in order to be baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are of great sacrifices, or more in a country where cultural barriers serve as part of the problem. And I'm most definitely not the perfect member of the church as well. I even get frustrated with a few things about the church. Taking the importance of callings of fellow members for granted is one of them.

Despite my personal frustrations and weaknesses, I want you all to know the importance of having a heart full of gratitude. A simple "Thank you", the two most important words of the English language can make someones day. Even when feelings of under appreciation hits me from time to time, I know I am needed. And you fellow members are needed in the church as well. I encourage you to look for the things you are grateful for often. I also highly encourage you to be grateful for the righteous actions and service of others. Don't just be grateful for them; verbally express your gratitude to them and let them know you're grateful! The two most important words of the English language can make the difference between a good day and bad day. Strive to make someones day with two simple words and help them feel needed. I could have used it on certain days. But President Uchtdorf's words helps in some ways and therefore, became the highlight of my conference weekend.