21 February 2019

Reading the Book of Mormon this morning, I was impressed by the description of the stripling warriors. Helaman called them "little sons." (Alma 56:30) I imagine the Aaronic Priesthood age youth. Art typically depicts them as strong and "large in stature." 

The Kingdom of God's youth are mighty enough to turn the tides of war. The youth are the hope of the future, and all of them truly can have the faith to come home alive from the war as all of the sons of Helamen did. Let us believe that our youth have the faith of Christ to withstand Satan's attacks, and treat them as  such.

Thursdays are big days. We did grocery shopping before Institute this and last week, arriving late to the class.

My laptop was acting odd this morning, wasting a couple hours of the day.

I revealed the extend of the buried inspections today to the inspector, discussing a plan to complete them.

Institute discussed the Kingdoms of Glory. 

The Little Sons of Helamen

Reading the Book of Mormon this morning, I was impressed by the description of the stripling warriors. Helaman called them "little sons." (Alma 56:30) I imagine the Aaronic Priesthood age youth. Art typically depicts them as strong and "large in stature." 

The Kingdom of God's youth are mighty enough to turn the tides of war. The youth are the hope of the future, and all of them truly can have the faith to come home alive from the war as all of the sons of Helamen did. Let us believe that our youth have the faith of Christ to withstand Satan's attacks, and treat them as  such.

Easing the wear on a Hamilton Beach bread machine

Baking 2 pound loaves of wheat bread, I finally discovered a way after years of using a bread machine to ease the wear of its operation. It typically skips gears, making loud noices, because the dough is thick and rough on the kneading appendage. I learned to put the last half cup of wheat flour after its mixing the first four cups of wheat flour with ease about five minutes into its routine.

What is the covenant of salt?

I am working on a scripture study activity over a couple days, but I have a simple precept to write about.

I learned about the covenant of salt, which I never was taught about before. It is very symbolic, yet is very real too. It is mentioned in the following verse:

"All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto the Lord, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: it is a covenant of salt for ever before the Lord unto thee and to thy seed with thee." (Numbers 18:19)

In the Old Testament we hear of prophets, numbering the minimum amount of saints required to preserve a nation from destruction. This is a tangible fruit of the covenant of salt. Abraham is known for negotiating with God about how many people were required to save Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 18.

"Salt has long been used to preserve, flavor, and purify... When salt loses its savor, it becomes ineffective, or “good for nothing” (Matthew 5:13). This happens when it is mixed with or contaminated by other elements. As disciples of Christ, we keep our “savor” by avoiding spiritual contamination from the world. This allows us to fulfill our preserving and purifying work as the salt of the earth—for example, through sharing the gospel and being an influence for good in the world (see D&C 103:9–10)." (Come, follow me)

The benefits of salt are a reflection of God's promises to preserving and purifying his covenant people. Salt pulling out flavor could represent the joy of the gospel. We truly have to work at the gospel to pull the joys of life to our taste. The gospel is not easy, but it is easier on man than life in the corrupt world.

20 February 2019

Jessica and I went to the Dairy Hill and Pizzicato for our monthly ice cream date. 

We tried their milkshakes at Dairy Hill. They are heavily ice cream based. The flavor was sweet, and the texture was mediocre. 

We tried the Daiya Vegan cheese on a very veggie pizza at Pizzicato. The flavors were all very mild, making it almost refreshing. The Daiya "cheese" kind of tasted like melted rice noodle, but it was barely observable, since it was so mild.

I finally discovered a way after years of using a bread machine to ease the wear of its operation. It typically skips gears, making loud noices, because the dough is thick and rough on the kneading appendage. I learned to put the last half cup of wheat flour after about five minutes of its routine, mixing the first four cups of wheat flour with ease.

At work, I got back into my productive mode today. The past two days were bad. It has become known that many inspections are buried, but people are working on it with me, without taking the brunt of the blame. I try my best, and quality control was not a priority in the beginning. I am still learning to step into my role a quality control project engineer.

I was productive by creating the quality control plan to catch up on buried inspections with my project manager. I also created some more Field Deficiency Reports from last week's QC walk.

In the mail, I received notice from the IRS that I do owe them money. It is a good thing that I did not pay TurboTax out of the negative balance.

I am working on a scripture study activity over a couple days, but I have a simple precept to write about.

I learned about the covenant of salt, which I never was taught about before. It is very symbolic, yet is very real too. It is mentioned in the following verse:

"All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer unto the Lord, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: it is a covenant of salt for ever before the Lord unto thee and to thy seed with thee." (Numbers 18:19)

In the Old Testament we hear of prophets, numbering the minimum amount of saints required to preserve a nation from destruction. This is a tangible fruit of the covenant of salt. Abraham is known for negotiating with God about how many people were required to save Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 18.

"Salt has long been used to preserve, flavor, and purify... When salt loses its savor, it becomes ineffective, or “good for nothing” (Matthew 5:13). This happens when it is mixed with or contaminated by other elements. As disciples of Christ, we keep our “savor” by avoiding spiritual contamination from the world. This allows us to fulfill our preserving and purifying work as the salt of the earth—for example, through sharing the gospel and being an influence for good in the world (see D&C 103:9–10)." (Come, follow me)

The benefits of salt are a reflection of God's promises to preserving and purifying his covenant people. Salt pulling out flavor could represent the joy of the gospel. We truly have to work at the gospel to pull the joys of life to our taste. The gospel is not easy, but it is easier on man than life in the corrupt world.

19 February 2019

Inspections have become very difficult to coordinate especially when we install things in a sequence that welds are completed after other components are installed. It is not ideal. 

We had our first consultation with the city inspector, and he expressed that he would like to meet weekly. Our meeting was chill. I was scared to do it myself, but I will probably meet with them alone in the future.

Jessica and I went out for pizza and milkshakes for our monthly anniversary. My father-in-law actually congratulated us. 

I wrote the following pondering the verses of scripture below:

"Yea, and they were depressed in body as well as in spirit, for they had fought valiantly by day and toiled by night to maintain their cities; and thus they had suffered great afflictions of every kind. And now they were determined to conquer in this place or die; therefore you may well suppose that this little force which I brought with me, yea, those sons of mine, gave them great hopes and much joy." (Alma 56:16-17)

Depressed people contend against an enemy day and night, facing a hopeless situation. They fear for their lives. This is a physical situation for the Nephite in these verses, but a spiritual war is depressing people daily.

One interesting thing, which is revealed in these verses, is that people can be depressed and be valiant in the fight for our lives.

Another great thing is that faith in Christ fulfills all that one can hope for. The sons of the Anti-Nephi-Lehi people were a great example of faith in Jesus Christ. They trusted in their lives so much to the Lord that all of them returned home from the war. We can share the burden of the depressed, relieving them of their fear; only if it is temperary, they will be comforted, feeling your love. The Nephites found much joy and hope in the stripling warriors. We can be stripling warriors in the spiritual war of today.

One can be depressed and valiant at the same time.

"Yea, and they were depressed in body as well as in spirit, for they had fought valiantly by day and toiled by night to maintain their cities; and thus they had suffered great afflictions of every kind. And now they were determined to conquer in this place or die; therefore you may well suppose that this little force which I brought with me, yea, those sons of mine, gave them great hopes and much joy." (Alma 56:16-17)

Depressed people contend against an enemy day and night, facing a hopeless situation. They fear for their lives. This is a physical situation for the Nephite in these verses, but a spiritual war is depressing people daily.

One interesting thing, which is revealed in these verses, is that people can be depressed and be valiant in the fight for our lives.

Another great thing is that faith in Christ fulfills all that one can hope for. The sons of the Anti-Nephi-Lehi people were a great example of faith in Jesus Christ. They trusted in their lives so much to the Lord that all of them returned home from the war. We can share the burden of the depressed, relieving them of their fear. Although it is temperary, they will be comforted, feeling your love. The Nephites found much joy and hope in the stripling warriors. We can be stripling warriors in the spiritual war of today.

18 February 2019

วันนี้อากาศหมอกเเละหนาว I learned from my mother not to use Google translate, but Thai to English dictionaries are more accurate.  

One of Columbia Stone's goals for the week is to complete installing and inspecting the Probels. I scheduled a couple last week for Tuesday, giving today to prepare for them. I went up to check if I could schedule more inspections for tomorrow. Looking at the welds, I decided that I need the welder's input before I write deficiency reports. I think that I have come to a point in the decline of quality welds that I cannot schedule inspections without a report from the company that they are prepared for the inspection. An elevation cannot be assumed complete, when the connection plates are welded. The freezing weather made this decision more decisive.

A second thing that made my day slow is that my operation manager is having me switch to another laptop, and IT had to work on it for most of the day. At the end of work I was downloading programs that I prefer to use like OneDrive and Vivaldi browser. I am a little tired of companies trying to squeeze as much money out of me, so I am going off grid Google wise. I did so on my work computer and phone. I can't do it on my tablet because it is a Nexus 9. I also will not have Facebook on my phone or work computer. Microsoft is another company, trying to squeeze as much money out of me with all their subscriptions and data from free services. I will only access gmail and Facebook occasionally on my home computer.

I wrote the following pondering the sermon on the mount:

Find joy in the eternal perspective. Life in the world is not true happiness. Happiness comes from living, pondering, and talking about the gospel of Jesus Christ. The world may find pleasure in vain things, gratifying pride, and carnal endulgence; however, the saints of God embrace temperance, modesty, and charity. These are sources of joy, self-esteem, and peace. Don't worry about what other people say about you especially if it is false or they persecute you for your faith in Christ.

Happiness in the World v. The Kingdom of God

"Everybody wants to be happy, but not everyone looks for happiness in the same places. Some search for it in worldly power and position, others in wealth or in satisfying physical appetites. Jesus Christ came to teach the way to lasting happiness, to teach what it truly means to be blessed. What do you learn about obtaining lasting happiness from Matthew 5:1–12 and Luke 6:20–26? How is this different from the world’s view of happiness?" (Come, follow me)

Find joy in the eternal perspective. Life in the world is not true happiness. Happiness comes from living, pondering, and talking about the gospel of Jesus Christ. The world may find pleasure in vain things, gratifying pride, and carnal endulgence; however, the saints of God embrace temperance, modesty, and charity. These are sources of joy, self-esteem, and peace. Don't worry about what other people say about you especially if it is false or they persecute you for your faith in Christ.

The references are quoted below.

"And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you." (Matthew 5:1-12)

"And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh. Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets. But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation. Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep. Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets." (Luke 6:20-26)

17 February 2019

Waking up at 5 AM per my regular schedule this Sabbath day, I started the first of a couple loads of laundry while I retrieved a 25 pound bag of oats from the car, which we purchased Thursday night. I scheduled the content of the "Single Adults' blogs of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."

I studied/pondered the scriptures, writing an article for 'Once Upon a Percept' early today, writing the following:

"As you read about the Savior changing water into wine in John 2:1–11, what insights do you gain about the power of Christ to change you?" (Come, follow me)

When I first read this, I thought that it did not apply to life much, ignoring it until Jessica brought it up last night.

"And [the third day of the week] (JST John 2:1) there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. 
Jesus saith unto her, [Woman, what wilt thou have me to do for thee? that will I do; for mine hour is not yet come.] (JST John 2:4)
His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.
And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. 
When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now. 
This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him." (John 2:1-11)

The water changed to wine as the wind and waves did. The weather and water were obedient to the will of the Lord. 

"And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?" (Mark 4:37 -41)
Why would Satan tempt Christ to command stones to become bread, if it were not possible?
"And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.
And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." (Luke 4:3-4)

The options to choose are much more for man than water and stone, yet water and stone can change by the power of God. These Earthly elements have faith in God for they knew him before the creation of the Earth.

"And the Gods ordered, saying: Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the earth come up dry; and it was so as they ordered; And the Gods pronounced the dry land, Earth; and the gathering together of the waters, pronounced they, Great Waters; and the Gods saw that they were obeyed." (Abraham 4:9-10)

The water would not have changed to wine, if the servants did not have faith in Jesus; just as, the disciples could not cast out the devil in the lunatic child. Although the devils knew that they had the authority to cast out devils, the devils did not obey them. Their faith in Christ was limited at that time. Faith precedes miracles.

"Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatic, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.

Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me. And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.

Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." (Matthew 17:15-20)

Faith without works is dead. Man have greater agency than stone and water, but some people feel that they cannot change. My life is a witness that man can change by faith in Jesus Christ and obedience. 
As a teenager, Satan trapped me in sin that I was stuck in for a third of my life; at that time in my life. Only by obedience to the principle of fasting did my faith in Christ access his power to change. God delivered me from Satan's grasp. My life would be damned and miserable without the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I also worked on my first journal entry in Thai. My mom yesterday said that I only made a couple errors; then, she said the words are translated too literally, and the grammar is off today. I corrected the two errors. I gave my mom the document to mark up, hoping she can teach me of my mistakes more directly.

I seemed to be too confident in my lesson plan for CTR 5. I had two parts to the lesson. The first went well, reviewing John 3:16. I then had them write on a paper what their parents do for them because they love them. They got in the spirit of Valentine's Day, wanting to make books for their family. The second did not go well. 

I reviewed Mary's request of Jesus Christ to provide wine. I was going to discuss how they can help their parents. There was not much to that conversation. We ended ten minutes early, but a most were interested in coloring. I prepared the first part well, but the second fell apart.

After church Jessica & I went to choir, and Brother Kuhn joined us. He was inspired by the quality of our singing, saying the that we sounded like the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square.

When I got home, I tried to write this journal entry, but I was dozing off.

Jessica woke me up at 4:50 pm, and I saw my phone, saying that dinner starts at 5 pm sharp from my father-in-law. We are at their residence now.

If water can change to wine by the power of God, you can change too.

"As you read about the Savior changing water into wine in John 2:1–11, what insights do you gain about the power of Christ to change you?" (Come, follow me)

When I first read this, I thought that it did not apply to life much, ignoring it until Jessica brought it up last night.

"And [the third day of the week] (JST John 2:1) there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. 

Jesus saith unto her, [Woman, what wilt thou have me to do for thee? that will I do; for mine hour is not yet come.] (JST John 2:4)

His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.

And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. 

When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now. 

This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him." (John 2:1-11)

The water changed to wine as the wind and waves did. The weather and water were obedient to the will of the Lord. 

"And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?" (Mark 4:37 -41)

Why would Satan tempt Christ to command stones to become bread, if it were not possible?

"And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.

And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." (Luke 4:3-4)

The options to choose are much more for man than water and stone, yet water and stone can change by the power of God. These Earthly elements have faith in God for they knew him before the creation of the Earth.

"And the Gods ordered, saying: Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the earth come up dry; and it was so as they ordered; And the Gods pronounced the dry land, Earth; and the gathering together of the waters, pronounced they, Great Waters; and the Gods saw that they were obeyed." (Abraham 4:9-10)

The water would not have changed to wine, if the servants did not have faith in Jesus; just as, the disciples could not cast out the devil in the lunatic child. Although the devils knew that they had the authority to cast out devils, the devils did not obey them. Their faith in Christ was limited at that time. Faith precedes miracles.

"Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatic, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.

Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me. And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.

Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?

And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." (Matthew 17:15-20)

Faith without works is dead. Man have greater agency than stone and water, but some people feel that they cannot change. My life is a witness that man can change by faith in Jesus Christ and obedience. 

As a teenager, Satan trapped me in sin that I was stuck in for a third of my life; at that time in my life. Only by obedience to the principle of fasting did my faith in Christ access his power to change. God delivered me from Satan's grasp. My life would be damned and miserable without the gospel of Jesus Christ.