New Years Eve 08-09

Feeling less inspired for commentary, we just thought we'd put up a few pics from our little family NYE party that had the kids jumping for joy in anticipation of the new year. Hope y'all had a Great Christmas and a fun New Year!

Tis The Season

I started this post with the desire to share this incredible song with you, now it has become a bit more, I hope it all makes sense, and I hope you enjoy.
Before starting the video, you should first, scroll to the bottom of the page and pause that "playlist" player so you will not have 2 songs going at once.


(Turn it up, man!!!)

If you have managed to spend any time around Melinda or me during Christmas, you would more than likely have heard this song. It has become one of our Christmas Anthems. This arrangement-- The Mormon Tabernacle Choir with Orchestra at Temple Square-- gives me chills every time I hear it. We first noticed it a few years ago on the end of Mr. Kruger's Christmas (one of the extra components of the DVD), then we bought the CD and have been wearing it out every Christmas since... the whole CD is great, but MAN! This one just does it for me. Having played in symphonies, I love the dynamics and instrumentation of this arrangement, not to mention the Angelic voices of the MoTab. The message of the lyrics really hit home as well. What shall we give to the babe in the manger? The best that we can give is our all, ourselves.

I really dig this passage of scripture, found in the New Testament, it (to me, in a round-about way)answers the question of "What shall we give?"... our lives.

Matthew 16 (King James Version of course)
13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
...
24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

OK, While I'm at it, here's one more for ya! “The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles,” is a proclamation, a statement, a testimony, where modern-day prophets and apostles bear witness of the divinity of our Savior Jesus Christ. I just figured it's fitting, especially this time of year, so I will cut/paste it for you and there's really nothing that I feel I can add to it except "Amen".

The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles

As we commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ two millennia ago, we offer our testimony of the reality of His matchless life and the infinite virtue of His great atoning sacrifice. None other has had so profound an influence upon all who have lived and will yet live upon the earth.

He was the Great Jehovah of the Old Testament, the Messiah of the New. Under the direction of His Father, He was the creator of the earth. “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3). Though sinless, He was baptized to fulfill all righteousness. He “went about doing good” (Acts 10:38), yet was despised for it. His gospel was a message of peace and goodwill. He entreated all to follow His example. He walked the roads of Palestine, healing the sick, causing the blind to see, and raising the dead. He taught the truths of eternity, the reality of our premortal existence, the purpose of our life on earth, and the potential for the sons and daughters of God in the life to come.

He instituted the sacrament as a reminder of His great atoning sacrifice. He was arrested and condemned on spurious charges, convicted to satisfy a mob, and sentenced to die on Calvary’s cross. He gave His life to atone for the sins of all mankind. His was a great vicarious gift in behalf of all who would ever live upon the earth.

We solemnly testify that His life, which is central to all human history, neither began in Bethlehem nor concluded on Calvary. He was the Firstborn of the Father, the Only Begotten Son in the flesh, the Redeemer of the world.

He rose from the grave to “become the firstfruits of them that slept” (1 Corinthians 15:20). As Risen Lord, He visited among those He had loved in life. He also ministered among His “other sheep” (John 10:16) in ancient America. In the modern world, He and His Father appeared to the boy Joseph Smith, ushering in the long-promised “dispensation of the fulness of times” (Ephesians 1:10).

Of the Living Christ, the Prophet Joseph wrote: “His eyes were as a flame of fire; the hair of his head was white like the pure snow; his countenance shone above the brightness of the sun; and his voice was as the sound of the rushing of great waters, even the voice of Jehovah, saying:

“I am the first and the last; I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father” (D&C 110:3–4).

Of Him the Prophet also declared: “And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!

“For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father—

“That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God” (D&C 76:22–24).

We declare in words of solemnity that His priesthood and His Church have been restored upon the earth—“built upon the foundation of … apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone” (Ephesians 2:20).

We testify that He will someday return to earth. “And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together” (Isaiah 40:5). He will rule as King of Kings and reign as Lord of Lords, and every knee shall bend and every tongue shall speak in worship before Him. Each of us will stand to be judged of Him according to our works and the desires of our hearts.

We bear testimony, as His duly ordained Apostles—that Jesus is the Living Christ, the immortal Son of God. He is the great King Immanuel, who stands today on the right hand of His Father. He is the light, the life, and the hope of the world. His way is the path that leads to happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come. God be thanked for the matchless gift of His divine Son.



I agree with the above statement whole-heartedly. Again, all I can add to that is Amen.
Merry Christmas.
Scott





Here is a link to the actual performance(the video above), it will not let me embed it so you'll have to click the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGULr3NGhRs

I just have to say:

I just have to say these few things, then I'm done for tonight:

-- I'm stoked for my little sis, Jessica, and her family for their newest addition to the family, Peter Sands Mag. (last name abbreviated for alleged identity protection). This is their 3rd, the "Family"'s 13th (grandchild... oldest being 12 y/o... 10 boys, 3 girls). They live in Walmart-ville, Arkansas and we haven't been up to visit yet (they moved up there around the same time we moved up here). Anyway I'm very happy for Jessie and Ryan, I'm really wanting to make a trip to Clinton-land soon.

-- University of Alabama Football ROCKS!!!! yeah, bummer that we lost Saturday!!! I really thought we could pull it off against Florida... I knew it would be an "edge-of-your-seat" match-up, and it was, but I really thought we could take 'em. At the end of the 3rd quarter, I knew we had 'em, but we definitely didn't hold up through the 4th quarter and ultimately lost the game, the SEC championship, and our chance @ the National Championship... Dang good run though, and I'm hoping for at least as good of a year next year!!!
Looks like we'll be schooling some Mormons at the Sugar Bowl down in Katrina-ville. Can I just say that I don't like the whole BCS thing??? I'm all for changing it to a legitimate play-off championship thing... I mean come-on!!! Don't get me wrong, I think that the Florida-Oklahoma matchup will be much more intense than our bowl game, and probably more entertaining than the Texas-Ohio State game, I also think that we could take Oklahoma if we could've scooted by Florida. So there you go... yes, I just predicted Florida to beat Oklahoma to be BCS National Champs. Whoopee... I still feel that we had one heck of a year. Nick Saban is the man, J.P. Wilson is a dang good QB and a talented leader (not unlike Tebow), and you can be looking for some big plays out of our freshman from Foley, AL (Julio Jones) in the years to come!!! That being said, let me just say: ROLL TIDE ROLL!!!!

-- Being sick sucks!!! I've had some kind of crud for more than a month now. It's been mutating into different incarnations each week... started off with sinus drainage, sore throat and head ache... Stanton had similar stuff going on so we went to the doc to knock it out early... we were negative for strep and flu, he got better, but the next week I no longer had the sore throat and head ache but instead had inflamed and congested sinuses, and my ears were stopped up... the really annoying kind where you can't equalize them, one is open the other closed type of thing and it swaps sides as you try to "pop" them... The following week I lost the ear thing and picked up a phlegm cough, intermittent lethargy, and maintained the sinus inflammation/congestion... but no drainage. Well, this past week I lost everything except the sinus thing, but it still sucks, in fact, I've been draining the thick, greenish, junk from my nose... still somewhat lethargic while still feeling the pressure/ache/pain in my sinuses... so I went back to the doc this past Friday and she decides it's time to try some anti-biotics... today is day #4 on antibiotics and not much change!!! Still green junk, still achy... yeah, I know... boo hoo, wah-wah... I'm just sayin', it sucks!!! I'd rather have earned my sickness from riding my mountainbike in the freezing cold and rain or something sick-worthy like that!

-- It's cool to hear from old (or long-lost) friends. Kelly Booth (now Bird I think) popped up on our radar today from whichever part of the universe she's living in. If you're reading this then "Hey Kelly". No, I'm not some weirdo (the only non-gay, male "family style" blogger around). I just picked up this whole blogging thing from my sisters as a way to communicate without having to use the phone... my family is not known for their phone and written letter tendencies, but blogging is a pretty easy and painless process that seems to fit the bill. Melinda (my wife) likes to read blogs, likes the concept, intends on blogging, but usually just gives me things to blog about or adds to my blogs in the form of creative and/or constructive suggestions, but seldomly gets around to actually blogging herself. So there you have it, somehow I got off of the original segment which is: hearing from old friends, namely Kelly.
About Kelly. She was always one of those cool "older sisters" of one of your friends, ya know. Her younger brother, Joel is about a year or so older than me and we were in Mutual (young men/young women's program) together as teenagers. We went to different high schools so we usually only hung out on Wednesday nights or weekends and usually with activities centered around church, but we did manage to get into some "typical" mischief associated with adolescence and not necessarily associated with church... that's all I'll say about that... anyway, remember how awkward you felt in your early/mid teens when you got around older teenagers? Remember how you wanted to be accepted, but really didn't know what to say or how to act the further away you got from your nucleus of similar age and like minded friends/peers? Well, Kelly and her friend Sheila, never made me feel that way... come to think of it, there was a whole gang in their age group, including Jeff (Kelly and Joel's older brother), Terry (Sheila's older brother), Skip (aka Kalvin) and Holley Johnson who were cool like that. I'm not sure that teenagers act like that towards each other anymore, you know... civil? It wasn't like I was trying to hang with the older kids either, but in our church, you tend to see a lot of each other at different events and Kelly was always one of those who would talk to me when she saw me... not one of those who would act like you weren't in the room. I always thought she was cool for that. Anyway, Kelly, thanks for being cool back then, even if you may not be anymore... just kiddin', you could've easily saw our blog, scanned through it, and kept on surfing, but you didn't, you kept true to form and said "hey"... well I think that's pretty cool. I hope all is well with your family and hope to hear from you again sometime.

-- I'm pretty much a weirdo. I can never just throw a few words on the blog and be done with it, I always end up doing this kind of thing. I really wanted to go to bed a bit earlier tonight, but screwed that up... oh well, I'm sure that there are many other husbands out there who seem a lot less weird than me who are looking at porn or something equally degrading, they probably bash guys who "blog"... ahhh, who cares? Since when did something like keeping a journal (which is kinda how I see blogging)become abnormal and being addicted to porn or "fantacy football" become accepted as "just what men do"? I'm just sayin'


Well that does it for now... I just saw Melinda quickly walk by and not even glance over at me... which translates from married sign-language to 1 or 2 things: 1. "you've angered me and now you'll have to guess how (and/or why)" or 2. "I'm trying to slip by you because I'm eating/drinking/or doing something that I don't want to share with you.... and now you'll have to guess what it is". So, I'm off for the night. We'll get back to addressing my weirdness soon... I promise.
Scott

Long time no post. Here's a cop-out.

It's been a while, I know, a lot has happened. I'll post soon with updates. BTW, Congratulations, Jessie, for giving birth to the 10th healthy grandson (out of now 13 grandkids)for Mom and Dad. We're glad everything went well with the delivery and that you guys are doing fine. Can't wait to come visit.
There's a lot more to report in regards to the NW Georgia Bedwells, but I'll do that soon, but for now, here's a cut-n-post for you to "get to know me better"
Later,
Scott

I got this from a friend's blog. I've never posted one of these things, but figured what the heck. You are supposed to copy the list and bold any of them that you have done. I couldn't let some go without comments (italicized)

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars Many, many times in many different states. My favorite was with Melinda hidden between some sand dunes on the Florida side of Alabama Point in Orange Beach on the beach. We were awakened somewhere around 3 a.m. by some "do good" cops who warned us of people being kidnapped and even killed by doing the same thing... I figured our error was leaving the car in the parking lot instead of having someone drop us off... there's no way they could've seen us from the road, parking lot or even the beach... (yes we were married then!)
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland /world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo two weeks ago in the Ward Choir... My first such
11. Bungee jumped Off of a bridge in a canyon in Idaho
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch (seems like this one should be a "yes" but I can't really think of what it should be)
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables we grew small gardens when living in Orange Beach
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight Long time ago... really
22. Hitch hiked from Big Sky Ski Resort, MT to many places including but not limited to: Bozeman, Missoula, Rexburg, Jackson Hole, Salt Lake City
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill some of my best surfing trips were when I was "Sick"
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping Duhhhh!!!
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset Many, Many, Many times
31. Hit a home run Do "In Park" HR's Count?
32. Been on a cruise It was a "Dinner Cruise" in Mobile Bay for a Prom Dinner, does that count?
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke Not something that I want to admit
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business does Amway/Quixtar count? they want you to think that it's your business anyway
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle can't wait to do it again!
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person got struck by lightning IN the canyon, down near the Colorado river
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating do fish count?
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone's life Many times... it's what I get paid to do.
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous Ted Turner and Jane (when she was his wife), and many football celebrities including Bob Baumhower, Gene Stallings, Shaun Alexander, Kenny Stabler, also Wayne Rogers (BJ Honeycutt from M.A.S.H.) and some more I can't remember off the top of my head
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby (made a couple... does that count?)
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake (walked ankle deep in it... when seeing Widespread Panic play at the "Salt Air Arena" on my 22 birthday... 1994)
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Happy Birthday Ginger!

As the title may suggest, yes, it's another Birthday in the Bedwell clan! Happy Birthday Ginger!
Ginger is the middle child in or group of 5. We have had her convinced since she was old enough to comprehend English, that she was adopted. So Ginger, for your birthday present, I just wanted to let you know that "SURPRISE!!!!", you're not adopted!!!
Wow, now you finally know who your birth-parents are!!! (not that you could ever be mistaken for someone other than a Bedwell).
Of course I'm joking... we let her know a long time ago that she was not adopted... wink/wink...
Here's a picture of Ginger and a couple of her offspring:

We hope you have a great birthday and we look forward to seeing you next week for turkey day festivities @ Lake Martin!!!


By the way, I'm 36 y/o now and Ginger was born 4 years after me... so if you really want to, you can do the math and figure out how young she is.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland visits for my Birthday

Wow, what an unexpected birthday present! Well, first, let me back up. Yesterday was my birthday, somewhat uneventful, we had thought to go see a concert (Matisyahu was playing in Atlanta), but we decided that we needed to go shopping and to dinner instead, the kids had an overnight birthday party to attend, so it worked out nicely.
Melinda got some new Danskos and we both got some new Smartwools. Woooo-hoooo!!!!! Right? Yeah, I know, we really get crazy when we go out for a birthday (actually, Melinda's birthday was last week and our 12th anniversary was in between our birthdays, so we were kinda celebrating all of the above)... we had dinner @ Ted's Montana Grill ( www.tedsmontanagrill.com ) it was actually way more casual, and way more enjoyable than expected. My Bison pot roast was great, but looking back, I wish I would've tried the Bison Filet or prime rib/ribeye. Melinda had cow (beef tenderloin) for dinner and it was good too. It was an enjoyable night with exceptional company and conversation.
So, back to Elder Holland, (click on the video to hear and see Elder Holland's testimony, for more about the living Twelve Apostles, go to www.lds.org or www.mormon.org or ask an LDS friend)
Well, we were to have an "impromptu" Stake Conference of sorts this weekend... again, if you're a non-member friend, just ask, I'll fill you in... Stake (like stakes of a tent) Conference is a meeting of the congregations of many local LDS churches under a local presiding presidency, it happens twice yearly...
So anyway, our Stake (the Cartersville Stake), is relatively new and we have yet to build a Stake Center to meet in, so we have borrowed our neighboring Stake Center in Powder Springs in the past for the purpose of our Stake Conferences. We have also utilized the larger of our buildings in our stake, Mars Hill (Acworth/Dallas-ish) for this purpose as well. The funny thing about this is that coming from Cartersville, you typically drive to both buildings in the same route, on the same road, only Mars Hill is about 6 or so miles North of the Powder Springs building and it's off the main road a little. The reason this is funny today is because neither Melinda nor I could remember which building we were to meet in. We knew that Elder D. Todd Christofferson (another Apostle) was supposed to be presiding over our meeting, so we figured that it would be big, so we just drove past the turn for Mars Hill building and went on down to the larger Powder Springs building, where we saw folks filling the parking lot of the high school football stadium just up the street and figured we were there. I dropped Melinda and the boys at the church, then went and parked the car where I was picked up by the shuttle service that was being provided by the ushers.
When I got inside, I realized that I had missed the opening prayer and the opening song and Stake business. The first speaker was already speaking, then song, followed by the out-going Mission President (apparently we have a new Mission Pres.), then a song, then the "Stake President"... only it wasn't OUR Stake President... (BTW, we were now sitting in an overflow room watching on a monitor), so I'm turning to Melinda asking... "Did President Giddens get released?" She just shrugs, so we sit and listen.
It IS a very spiritual meeting at this point, but it did seem to be moving right along and not quite a typical Stake Conference, and no other affiliated meetings on Saturday and whatnot. So, the next speaker turns out to be Elder Jeffrey R. Holland and there's no sign of Christofferson, come to think of it, we had yet to see a familiar face from our Stake either.
Elder Holland's talk was awesome! He was very candid and informal to start, he made some jokes and seemed very personable. He explained that this "impromptu" visit was not to "announce the date of the coming of the Lord, or anything great and marvelous as that", but was an attempt of the General Authorities to get out and see the Saints and be seen by them... (turns out that he was traveling with Elder Chistofferson, Elder Snow-- Quorum of Seventy, and maybe some others)... So, the visiting G.A.'s met on Saturday with all of the Atlanta and surrounding area Stake Presidents and Bishops/Branch Presidents. And Each met with a different Stake or two today... (Ah,Ha!!!)... Turns out that Christofferson was, in fact, at the Mars Hill building meeting with OUR (Cartersville) Stake and WE (Bedwells) were, in fact, attending the Powder Springs' "impromptu" Stake Conference and Elder Snow would be at another Stake holding a similar meeting... They were in Canada just a couple weeks ago, and will be in New York next week, and so on and so forth, going about the country (and assumingly other GA's doing the same thing), until after General Conference in April, then they will be going out of the States doing the same...

No wonder we hadn't seen a familiar face yet (well, we recognized the Mission Pres, and of course, Elder Holland). I've yet to find out the message of Elder Christofferson, but let me get back to Elder Holland's Talk. As I mentioned, he started out on a light note, but soon became very serious and began to address the youth specifically. He requested the attention of young men and young women from the ages of 12 to 22 and spoke directly to them. He relayed some experiences which he had to be near Presidents Hinkley and Hunter in the latter parts of their lives and he spoke of President Monson as well. He mentioned that the Thursday before Pres. Hinkley died, he conducted meetings in a typical fashion, ALL DAY LONG (as usual) with members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of Twelve in the 4th floor of the Salt Lake Temple. He emphasized that not only was this a few days before his death, but that it was also a few months before his 98th birthday. He really drove the point that President Hinkley and the Prophets before him as well as the "young" President Monson (81 y/o) had more or less lived their lives to the fullest, and had for decades, dedicated their lives to the Lord's work and on some level had possibly/assumingly secured their places in Heaven. (He kinda apologized for saying such and stated that none of the Prophets would agree or actually feel that way, it just was the point that he was leading up to)... His point was that these men, in the twilight of their lives, were still working as hard or harder for the building up of the Lord's Kingdom on Earth. "There is no 'Palm Springs' for Prophets" he said. Speaking of President Hinkley he said that if you were to give him a Golf Club, he wouldn't know what to do with it. "He would probably think it was some kind of device to beat a missionary upside the head with... you know, motivation" ...
His point was that these leaders could've and can easily justify "retiring" at this time in there lives and that their counterparts in the world, in business and otherwise, were typically well on their way to their "Palm Springs" by this age. He asked "Why".(regarding the Prophets). Why would they feel the need to press on? His answer was: (and if you see a quote on my blog, please note that it is STRICTLY a paraphrase), his answer was: "Not for themselves, it was never about themselves, it's always been for you." (speaking to the youth, which involves us all, obviously, but specifically the youth). He continued to drive the point that they were doing a selfless work and their dedication was without measure. He called this work and dedication an "investment". And that he wished to talk to the youth about a return on this investment. He mentioned some statistics about what age people fall away from the Church and that, overwhelmingly, it has always been sons and, more recently, daughters of members who fall away in their teens and early 20's. Those who return, usually don't return until later in life.
After some expounding on things mentioned above, Elder Holland asked the youth ages 12 to 22 and those who would soon be 12 to commit to paying a return on their leaders' investments. The investments of all their leaders, the young women's president, the Sunday school teacher, the Bishops and Stake Presidents, and so on. He explained that this "return" or "interest" would be in the form of tithing. He said "not 'Tithing' tithing, you pay that to your bishop, he can deal with that", but the tithing he was talking about was 1/10th of the youth's life. "Let's say you live to 100, then 1/10th would be 10 years." That's why he said that he was talking to the 12-22 y/o's. Because that's the age of the biggest falling away. He asked the youth of Powder Springs to fully commit to living the teachings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to commit this day, to pay the spiritual tithing for the next 10 years of their lives. "Go on a mission, uphold the standards, read and learn the scriptures, cherish virtue and morality, share the gospel..."
It was one of the more spiritual experiences that I've had in a while. I would call it inspiring and invigorating. Elder Holland went on to promise the blessings of the Lord if they(we) would but do this. He had a lot more to say, and it was very spiritual, but I'm sure that you're about tired of reading this so I'll have to tell you about it in another post.
Anyways, living in the South, it's not often that you get to attend a meeting with an ordained Apostle of the Lord, a Living Prophet. I'm pretty stoked right now and have decided that it's definitely one of my favorite Birthday Presents.
We stood in line for a while in hopes to shake hands and thank Elder Holland for the visit, but it looked to be a very long wait and we did get close enough to see him, but we figured that we'd come on home, so we did.
The messages we heard today were definitely needed, I feel like I've been fed and led. I'm sure I would feel the same way if we had attended our own Stake's meeting with Elder Christofferson and I'm anxious to hear what messages were shared in that meeting, but as of now, I'm just glad that I didn't sleep in like my body wanted me to.
BTW, I know that Elder Holland, Christofferson and the gang are truly Apostles and Prophets of the living Lord Jesus Christ. I also know that Thomas S. Monson is not only the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but he is also a Prophet, Seer and Revelator with all the keys and authority like unto Moses, Noah, Alma, Nephi, Isaiah,Joseph Smith all those mentioned in the Scriptures. That is my testimony to you, the reader, which I bare in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. Oh yeah, just in case you didn't click on it, go back up and click on the embedded video of Elder Holland's Testimony of Jesus Christ. It's good.
That's all for now, and thanks for reading.
Scott

Sorry, I just Had to!!!

Disclaimer: This is NOT an endorsement!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just a sad truth!!!!!!!!!

Click on the Picture for bigger image.