Manners & Warriors

I’ve recently had interesting experiences with manners and the Church.  More specifically BAD Manners at Church activities. 

I’ll tell you a little about it without going into details, but I want to say up front that a true Righteous Warrior would not stoop to the level of poor manners. Poor manners are an expression of selfishness and show lack of self control. So in this experience, there is a lesson in how to behave and act like a true priesthood man.

In my years of service I’ve noticed a couple of things regarding deteriorating manners that have bugged me:

Backpacking: the Warrior Way to Camp

I just completed a lifelong dream to backpack in the southern Utah desert, surviving only on my wits, what I could carry and the water I could find.  Ever since I was a small boy, I'd dreamed of doing this.  The scout troop I was in as a boy was loaded with fishermen and if you couldn't fish, they weren't doing it.  Since fishing is scarce in the desert of southern Utah, it never happened.

So I was able to accompany my son and his troop on their outing last week, and I have a lot of Warrior stories to tell about that trip, but that isn't the focus of this post.  What I'd like to address for the warriors and budding warriors out there is the fine, manly, warrior art of BACKPACKING!

Standing in the ruins of an ancient culture.

As I described my experience to a co-worker, he mentioned that he wouldn't know where to start on a backpacking trip...this led me to think "Hmmm...if I had to compile a list of ten essential things you'd need for a successful backpacking expedition, what would it be?"

The Duty to God Social Experiment

My ward, like many others, is having very limited success with the current Duty to God program.  It just doesn’t seem to be catching on. We hand out very few certificates…with most boys ignoring the program completely.  Our stake does an annual “Stake Duty to God” activity once a year (just had it in April) and as a ward we bring it up occasionally, which usually consists of asking the young men in priesthood meeting if they have any experiences to ‘SHARE’ with the group.  This is always met with awkward silence, and we move on. Most boys don’t even know where their booklets are, and parents don’t know what is going on.  It simply does not seem to be working.  It’s a shame really because there are valuable experiences to be gained by following the lessons in this booklet.

Much Ado About Nothing?

There has been a lot of talk around my circle of friends about a strange little notion calling itself ‘The Unwritten Order of Things'.  I’d like to give my (WARRIORS) perspective on this topic.

To be up front and honest, there is a talk given by Elder Boyd K. Packer titled “the Unwritten Order of Things”. It was given at a BYU devotional in October of 1996. In this talk he discussed how there are things, norms if you will, that are, or should be, just common knowledge in the Church that are not in manuals or scripture (i.e. not doctrine), but ‘suggestions’ from an apostle as to how things ought to operate.  The clearest example he gives of this in his talk is that one who presides at a meeting should sit on the stand, and that the Bishopric should always sit with the Bishop in the middle with the first councilor on the right and the second councilor on the left.  He discusses a few other things and suggests that if we wish to be in line with this ‘Unwritten Order’ that we watch and learn from the First Presidency and Quorum of the 12 and mimic their actions, dress, attitudes and behaviors.

That’s all great and I agree…mostly.

Daughters, Dating and FEAR

My bother reminded me that High School Prom season is upon us. Any of us who have daughters share his concern that she date a decent young man, and like any father of teen girls, he feels that his best method for deterring any errant behavior on the part of the young suitor is through the use of fear & intimidation.  Admit it…we all do it.

“Come on in boy sit on down
And tell me about yourself
So you like my daughter do you now?
Yeah we think she's something else
She's her daddy's girl
Her momma's world
She deserves respect
That’s what she'll get
Ain’t it son?
Hey y'all run along and have some fun
I'll see you when you get back
Bet I’ll be up all night
Still cleanin' this gun”
-    Rodney Atkins

Eating Right

I was visiting with some buddies recently about our new year’s resolutions to be healthier, and not to brag or anything but I achieved a couple of fitness goals recently.  A) I set a new record for mileage on www.runkeeper.com I’ve only been recording my efforts on there for about four months, but in the month of March I racked up more miles than I ever have previously!  It was only 55 miles, but it was a new personal record and I’m pretty excited about it.  I’ve already determined that I’m going to beat that in April.  My second goal B) was to get my weight below 220 lbs.  Well, I weighed in the other morning at 219!  I was pretty happy.  I’ve shed nearly 10 pounds this month.

How did I do it? A lot of what I’m going to share with you came from www.stewsmith.com so I can’t take credit for the idea.  Also see my post on FITNESS for some good ideas and links.

“Spiritual communication can be enhanced by good health practices.  Exercise, reasonable amounts of sleep and good eating habits increase your capacity to receive and understand revelation.” Elder Richard G. Scott. General Conference April 2012.

Call of Duty: Spiritual Warfare

Ahhh…wasn’t General Conference great? I always look forward to the re-charge I get as a I sit and ‘feast’ on the words of prophets (as well as on snacks and goodies that are a conference tradition in my home).  I am always spiritually refreshed following conference weekend.

I had a thought that I wanted to run by you all as I review some of my conference notes and mussings. One in particular that I keep coming back to is President Monsen’s “Call of Duty” talk.