July 21, 2019
Hi Jon -
I haven't heard from you in a while! Mom says you were feeling down and that you didn't love your area and were having some challenges with your companion. I hope that things are getting better. I know how hard things can be when your companion doesn't want to do the work or wants to break rules or wants to sleep all day long. It's very hard. Mom and I went through similar things on our missions and Maddy did too. Even if you feel you are just wasting your time remember that it's the Lord's time and just do the best you can. Maybe you can't change your situation at all or maybe you can do small things to influence things in some positive way.
I was certain that I wasn't going to be able to attend the Poulton/Fullmer reunion this year but here I sit in Island Park writing to you. I finished 2 months at Banjo yesterday but am not going to be working there anymore. It's a long story and not very interesting but the short version is the CEO needs to bring in more executive leadership but he isn't ready to give up any control. It's just a personal growth thing - someday he will change but he's not ready to yet. I learned a long time ago that you have to hire the brightest people you can find and then get out of their way. Hiring company leaders accomplishes nothing. Empowering company leaders accomplishes everything.
One thing that was different in this experience for me was how adaptable I chose to be. When I started this job my one main personal goal was to be adaptable and just roll with whatever changes and challenges they threw at me. In previous jobs I've been more rigid with a "my way or the highway" personality and that can limit one's success so this time I was determined to change all that. I'm very proud of what I did and how I did it this time. They changed the rules on me almost weekly and I just smiled and kept on doing the best I could and not complain very much. Unfortunately it didn't lead to a good outcome this time but that's okay. I get to salvage the remainder of my summer and go camping, kayaking, and do all the stuff that I love. And Banjo has to keep paying me until Halloween because that's what I wrote into my employment contract!
This week I've been studying Acts 10-15 and thinking a lot about personal revelation. In my life, personal revelation has only come to me when I'm studying and pondering a certain thing and when I'm listening to the prophet. The first example is when I was in the second half of my mission pondering what profession and college major I should choose. I distinctly remember going to a bank in the middle of the day to deposit some checks and the bank was closed because of some strange holiday - Spain had holidays every week it seemed. The next day I went to the bank and stood in a line like 20 people long just to deposit the checks and right there standing in line I felt personal revelation that I should go into information systems and create a way for people to deposit checks even when the bank is closed and without having to stand in a long line. It was very clear to me.
The second example of when I've received personal revelation is when I had a crisis of faith because of the whole blacks being restricted from the priesthood and temple blessings for 150 years of church history. I really struggled with the unfairness of that so I questioned whether God was fair, were prophets racists, and why would the church change their policy only after mounting political and societal pressure? As I pondered these questions and read as much as I could on the subject, I received personal revelation that calmed my soul. And not just once but over the years I've received many different thoughts and impressions and many different times like have you thought about this or have you thought about it that way to the point where the issue is fully resolved for me. I don't share my impressions in public because they aren't doctrinal and are just between me and the Lord and if I'm wrong I don't want to lead other people astray. But my revelations are good enough for me and I really do believe they come from God.
Do you think it's a coincidence that Joseph Smith was given the Aaronic Priesthood at the same time he was pondering about the importance of baptism in the Book of Mormon? Is it a coincidence that Joseph F. Smith was given the revelation in D&C 138 at the exact time that he was pondering the spirit world? I think not. I believe that if you want or need personal revelation on a subject the best thing to do is to study and ponder it instead of expecting revelation with no work involved.
The third example of personal revelation is when I listen to the prophets - specifically in General Conference but sometimes in Stake Conference too. I'll be sitting there listening to a talk on whatever but my mind will be open and wandering and in that moment a thought will hit me out of the blue like "You need to ask your Dad if his toilets ever back up now that he got his septic tank replaced". It's usually a thought that's so random that there's no way I could have come up with it on my own. I'll write down the thought and take action after conference ends. When I called my dad I found out that he has been pretty sick lately, feeling pretty old and isolated, and pretty depressed lately. He is so glad I called because now he knows someone cares about him and I realize that the impression I received really had nothing to do with a septic tank but everything with Heavenly Father answering the prayer of someone who was suffering.
So that's how I receive personal revelation. I hope you receive personal revelation too. And if you don't then just be patient and keep trying. Don't get frustrated and give up because that's what the adversary wants.
Keep your sense of humor and don't let anything get you down. Your trials are only for a moment.
Love,
Dad
I haven't heard from you in a while! Mom says you were feeling down and that you didn't love your area and were having some challenges with your companion. I hope that things are getting better. I know how hard things can be when your companion doesn't want to do the work or wants to break rules or wants to sleep all day long. It's very hard. Mom and I went through similar things on our missions and Maddy did too. Even if you feel you are just wasting your time remember that it's the Lord's time and just do the best you can. Maybe you can't change your situation at all or maybe you can do small things to influence things in some positive way.
I was certain that I wasn't going to be able to attend the Poulton/Fullmer reunion this year but here I sit in Island Park writing to you. I finished 2 months at Banjo yesterday but am not going to be working there anymore. It's a long story and not very interesting but the short version is the CEO needs to bring in more executive leadership but he isn't ready to give up any control. It's just a personal growth thing - someday he will change but he's not ready to yet. I learned a long time ago that you have to hire the brightest people you can find and then get out of their way. Hiring company leaders accomplishes nothing. Empowering company leaders accomplishes everything.
One thing that was different in this experience for me was how adaptable I chose to be. When I started this job my one main personal goal was to be adaptable and just roll with whatever changes and challenges they threw at me. In previous jobs I've been more rigid with a "my way or the highway" personality and that can limit one's success so this time I was determined to change all that. I'm very proud of what I did and how I did it this time. They changed the rules on me almost weekly and I just smiled and kept on doing the best I could and not complain very much. Unfortunately it didn't lead to a good outcome this time but that's okay. I get to salvage the remainder of my summer and go camping, kayaking, and do all the stuff that I love. And Banjo has to keep paying me until Halloween because that's what I wrote into my employment contract!
This week I've been studying Acts 10-15 and thinking a lot about personal revelation. In my life, personal revelation has only come to me when I'm studying and pondering a certain thing and when I'm listening to the prophet. The first example is when I was in the second half of my mission pondering what profession and college major I should choose. I distinctly remember going to a bank in the middle of the day to deposit some checks and the bank was closed because of some strange holiday - Spain had holidays every week it seemed. The next day I went to the bank and stood in a line like 20 people long just to deposit the checks and right there standing in line I felt personal revelation that I should go into information systems and create a way for people to deposit checks even when the bank is closed and without having to stand in a long line. It was very clear to me.
The second example of when I've received personal revelation is when I had a crisis of faith because of the whole blacks being restricted from the priesthood and temple blessings for 150 years of church history. I really struggled with the unfairness of that so I questioned whether God was fair, were prophets racists, and why would the church change their policy only after mounting political and societal pressure? As I pondered these questions and read as much as I could on the subject, I received personal revelation that calmed my soul. And not just once but over the years I've received many different thoughts and impressions and many different times like have you thought about this or have you thought about it that way to the point where the issue is fully resolved for me. I don't share my impressions in public because they aren't doctrinal and are just between me and the Lord and if I'm wrong I don't want to lead other people astray. But my revelations are good enough for me and I really do believe they come from God.
Do you think it's a coincidence that Joseph Smith was given the Aaronic Priesthood at the same time he was pondering about the importance of baptism in the Book of Mormon? Is it a coincidence that Joseph F. Smith was given the revelation in D&C 138 at the exact time that he was pondering the spirit world? I think not. I believe that if you want or need personal revelation on a subject the best thing to do is to study and ponder it instead of expecting revelation with no work involved.
The third example of personal revelation is when I listen to the prophets - specifically in General Conference but sometimes in Stake Conference too. I'll be sitting there listening to a talk on whatever but my mind will be open and wandering and in that moment a thought will hit me out of the blue like "You need to ask your Dad if his toilets ever back up now that he got his septic tank replaced". It's usually a thought that's so random that there's no way I could have come up with it on my own. I'll write down the thought and take action after conference ends. When I called my dad I found out that he has been pretty sick lately, feeling pretty old and isolated, and pretty depressed lately. He is so glad I called because now he knows someone cares about him and I realize that the impression I received really had nothing to do with a septic tank but everything with Heavenly Father answering the prayer of someone who was suffering.
So that's how I receive personal revelation. I hope you receive personal revelation too. And if you don't then just be patient and keep trying. Don't get frustrated and give up because that's what the adversary wants.
Keep your sense of humor and don't let anything get you down. Your trials are only for a moment.
Love,
Dad
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