I beat Bo and Scott ....

We went to the church and we shot 3 pointers... We shot 10 at a time until we shot 100... I made 63, Bo made 45 and Scott made 43... Scott was rusty and got hot in the final 50 shots and let's face it Scott is getting up in years... Bo was right with me until we shot the group of ten that added to 70 and on that group I made 10 out of 10.... I am pretty happy about this because Bo and Scott are good basketball players... I had a very busy day yesterday being Bishop... I left at 7:00 and didn't get home until 6:00 but it was a very good day and I had some great visits... During church was pretty tough because my brain was going a hundred miles per hour... The Primary was great in our Sacrament meeting... All my Grandchildren were great, McKenna was very good at speaking and conducting the music and Tanner and Andy were in competition to see who could sing the loudest and yet they can really sing... Jessie had a powerful voice in his talk and I think he will be a great speaker in the future with a little of the Southern Baptist minister twang and volume... They all did great and I hope I don't hurt any of there feelings because I didn't mention them....

Jace's Birthday...

We had Jace's birthday today and he was really cute about it... Scott and I went golfing and it was fun talking with Scott but I am not sure how much Scott really cared about golfing.... It was fun being with him though... Taylor and I went to the Doctors office and Taylor has chronic fatigue... Who doesn't have that, just kidding.... At least we know what is troubling her... She is a fighter though and will not use that as an excuse to not do things she knows she needs to do... I officated a CIF volleyball game at Bethal Christian and I believe that is the end of volleyball for this season.... Yea... It was great to have the family over today... Night.... 39

I'm back....

Sometimes I just get out of the habit of writing... This time I had a lot to say but because of circumstances I was not able to write down my thoughts because it would not have been appropriate because of circumstances... I am the Bishop of the Lake Los Angeles Ward again and though I am surprise to be put into that position again, yet I knew when President Banfield interviewed me last January and asked to name three people who could be bishop of our ward and then after I replied he asked, "What about you?" I felt the Spirit run through my body and I knew for sure at that time that I was going to be the next Bishop... Some Spiritual promptings that I receive now, I know for a surety that they will come about.... That doesn't happen often but in this case it did happen... President Banfield told me that he submitted my name back at that time but that because I was the Bishop the time before the church headquarters put a red flag on it and was questioning about calling me again, so President Banfield went on with the search... In September he spoke to me again and we had a half an hour visit and again I told the President that I would serve and again that strong Spirit came... President Banfield could not find the right person but told me that I would not be the Bishop and I strug and quite frankly was relieved... This is one time that I did not want to be right about understanding the promptings... Well, I am Bishop now but I feel an unusually calm feeling and I have felt close to my Heavenly Father, similar to the moments on my mission.... We had a Bishopric meeting last night and I had the honor to meet with Jake Briggs my 2nd counselor and Jason Jay my 1st counselor, and to top it off I have my really good friend, my son Joshua as my Executive Secretary... Josh has already been very tender by the way he has been taking care of me.... Jake and Jason were masterful and mature way beyond their years... The counsel they gave me was rock solid and they carry with them a depth of wisdom that is eerie... I know I am privalage to be here to do whatever training I need to do to set these young guns into the fray of battling satan in the very last days.... Jared already received his calling and he and Julie were just wonderful in taking on the future challenge... Jake and Jason was in my office when we presented the calling and that was tender and cute... I have never felt so secure in a calling as I do in this one... We have a dependent Spanish Branch and Jacob and Jason already recognize their importance in helping to make this dependent Branch an independent one and leading to becoming a Ward... That is the obvious goal... Scott is here with Darin and Lizzy and I have enjoyed Darin and Lizzy more this time than ever before... Darin gives me hugs and Lizzy is always being coy and flirting with me... She is a real cutey... Jared looks like he might get a Littlerock HS math teaching position... If he does then that will be a dream come true... I am enjoying being around Julie, ah, I am not sure but it seems to me that we have open up some windows, doors, or something because she has been so sweet to me and I feel that we are building a relationship... I appreciate Jared and Julie very much.... Theron called a week ago and said they were coming to see us, but I don't know what day yet but I hope it happens... Wade Malesich came over last Sunday when I was called to be Bishop and it was great to see him and I know my mom really enjoys seeing Wade... My mom is doing real well and she is a blast to have in our house... She has her own room where our office used to be and she has bought herself a big screen TV and has added HD so she is doing real well... I am able to go and visit whenever I want to and that is often because her mind is still there and she is fun to talk to... She eats dinner with us each night and from time to time will come out and be with the rest of the large group that we seem to have all the time... I have a hard time grasping how fortunate I am in this life and how good Heavenly Father is to me... I am Heavenly homesick, but I am comfortable with the Full Time mission I am on, right now, by being placed here on this earth at this time to serve the Lord and try to help build the Kingdom of God... Night... 39

Lightening and Thunder...

We are having the biggest lightening and thunder session in California in all of my reccolection... It is quite the beautiful sight... All I need now is to see a Tornado and my wishes will be practically all fulfill.... I really want to see tornado before I die... I think it comes from the Wizard of Oz but no matter I just really want to see a tornado... When I retire I want to hook up with some storm chaser people and fulfill my dream.... I officiated 3 games at Knight High School and my old student and basketball player Jada Walker is the coach of the Highland team that played them... She is doing a good job as the coach... Night.... 39...

No Bishop yet....

We had interviews last January and I mean about 7 brethern was interviewed and the feeling is that a change was coming soon... We then heard that the change will come in September and now Bishop Dassler feels it might come on November 14th... It is difficult because the church is true and this is the Lord's church, but the ship is sailing but I believe that many buckets of water has been scooped out of the boat so that it would keep on sailing... I'm very impressed with Bishop Dassler and the professional way that he has handle it... I'm sure if we were in President Banfield's shoes we would understand why it has taken so long, but I have felt for Bishop Dassler though... McKenna gave a great talk in Primary today and we also had all the family in Lake LA here to celebrate McKenna's 10th birthday.... It is great to be a Grandpa... Night.... 39

Ruben Bravo is special....

Ruben is a student in my class... He is a brilliant student but is being raised from what I heard by some gang bangers type of people... I do not know them but I know that Ruben acts like a gang banger until he comes into the class and then he shines like a diamond... Today we were going over some of the propositions that are on our ballot and we were talking about legalizing marijuana and Ruben gave an intellectual argument why we should legalize it and then I had the students write their opinion and also tell me which way they would vote... Well the class came up even at 14-14 and the last paper I had to read was Ruben's... I knew which way he was going but I wanted to see how he would craft his argument on paper and then he stunned me... He argued that marijuana should never be legalized... I broke up into a belly laugh and told Ruben to come back to my desk and with a grin he told me he just wanted to shake up the class and that is why he argued for legalization... What a great young man and I am honored to put him into my blog.... Night.... 39

Being competitive is not a sin....

In fact if dealt with the right motive it becomes an asset to the Lord... This is a sample and argueably means nothing, but of the 2 Assistants to the President in our mission and the 12 zone leaders at one point, all of them, but one played competitive high school sports and a few played in college... We were all leaders and we all had an edge to ourselves... There are people who are trying to teach that being ocmpetitive is not condusive to the Spirit, but I maintain that if you are going to be valiant in the gospel then you have to be willing to battle, yes battle evil forces and not give into the competive nature of the evil one in trying to make us give up our integrity... It takes true guts to overcome a weakness of any kind and you will not be able to do it with a passive nature to deal with sin... It takes courage to be kind in all situations and control to follow the Spirit... A competitive person will not let minor aches and pains or sickness cause us to shun the work with a wimpy reason... And yet a passive person will convinced themselves that they are sick and will criticize people who are willing to go through a brick wall for there team, church or family and that was not listed in the order of importance either... I cannot believe how powerful and focus the Lord was when he was on the earth.... We saw "Secretariat" the movie and the drive to win is the grease in the wheel that brings joy into the lives of those who are driven to win and do what is right which is the same thing... I believe that the competitive ones that do evil have all kinds of chinks in their armor and really will not do everything it needs to win but will shun with fear at weak moments and then make excuses.... I love being competitive and I love the drive that is in me.... Some people look at my playing golf as foolishness but it gives me a release to air out emotions that help me cope with other things... And what is wrong with trying to improve on things in your life so you can come up a victor on whatever things you try to beat... Competition is what drives us and lack of competitiveness is luke warm or in other words not valiant... Think about it... Good night.... 39