The Perfect A

Arturo Toscanini, the late, famous conductor of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, received a brief, crumpled letter from a lonely sheepherder in the remote mountain area of Wyoming:

“Mr. Conductor: I have only two possessions—a radio and an old violin. The batteries in my radio are getting low and will soon die. My violin is so out of tune I can’t use it. Please help me. Next Sunday when you begin your concert, sound a loud ‘A’ so I can tune my ‘A’ string; then I can tune the other strings. When my radio batteries are dead, I’ll have my violin.”

At the beginning of his next nationwide radio concert from Carnegie Hall, Toscanini announced: “For a dear friend and listener back in the mountains of Wyoming the orchestra will now sound an ‘A.’ ” The musicians all joined together in a perfect “A.”

The lonely sheepherder only needed one note, just a little help to get back in tune; he could go on from there. He needed someone who cared to assist him with one string; the others would be easy. Then, with all strings in tune—in harmony—the lonely sheepherder would have a source of companionship and joy and could play uplifting strains.
(David B. Haight, “People to People,” Ensign, Nov 1981, 54)

Where do we find our perfect A to tune our lives?

The scriptures tell us where we can find our perfect A. The scriptures tell us who to turn to and why we need to turn to Him.

Helaman 5:12
And now, my sons, (daughters, mothers, fathers), remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

All we have to do is find the time to read and study the scriptures. In all honesty we don't have the time not to read them. We can gain a testimony from the scriptures and we can in turn help our children learn to love the scriptures and gain their own testimony of Jesus Christ. Nothing else in life matters. Our testimony will be the thing that will pull us through the trials that face us.

Feasting on the scriptures

D&C 84:88
And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.

How comforting to know that God knows who we are and will bear us up. To me that means when things are tough He will be there. And what of the angels that will be round about us? Could that be loved one that have passed on before? God knows what trials we will have to face. He knows what will be difficult. He knows how hard it will be and He will be near to help us through each trial. Well that make the trials easy? Probably not. But it will make it so we can bear all things the Lord sees fit to put in our way.

Now what do I have to do to receive this blessing? ....

• Read the scriptures.
• Say my prayers.
• Go to church.
• Follow His commandments.

Those are the standard answers but if I am not doing those things I am in danger of losing His spirit. Failure to read my scriptures and say my prayers would be the first step in apostasy. God will only be as near as I allow Him to be.

Daniel's Graduation

Yea, Daniel and his family graduated with a Masters in Engineering. Even better than that is the fact that he has a job. He will be working for L-3 Communications in Salt Lake.

We have had a wonderful weekend just enjoying visiting with family in Logan.

My Ring

A couple of weeks ago I lost my mothers wedding band that she had given me just before she died. I had been wearing it night and day. I had washed some dishes in Clorox water and the water burnt my finger under the wedding band. I took the band off and put it on the only finger it would fit on the other hand. At the time I thought, "You should go put your ring away." I didn't. The next day I had the same thought. About an hour later I realized the ring was gone. Often we get prompting from the Holy Ghost just like the ones I had received. We follow those promptings and we have no idea what could have happened because we did follow them. Other times we do not follow those prompts and something bad happens. So how do we know when we are getting a prompt from the Holy Ghost? Because any good thought comes from God, we can bet that any good warning comes from God too. I hope I can learn to be a better listener. I know I can listen better as I study my scriptures and say my prayers.

This weekend we have been staying with Daniel and Jana. I watched them as they helped their children say a few verses from the scriptures and say their prayers each night. Last night Tyler was bent out of sorts and did not want to read the scriptures. However, by the time the family had finished he was calm and ready for prayer. Did the scriptures make the difference? Yes. Is it always going to be easy? No. Is it going to be worth it? Yes!

Back to my ring. I knew that I had lost my ring around the house. Jennifer and her family were there and bless Jalynn's heart, she went clear through my garbage to make sure it did not drop off in there. The ring was not in the garbage. As I watched her I had a thought. "You are going to have to clean deep." Later I had another thought just about like that. "You will not find your ring unless you do some deep cleaning just like Jalynn did as she dug deep into the garbage." So I did some deep cleaning. I started in the kitchen because that was the room I had been in most of the time. When I cleaned the shelves off by the phone, I pulled some books off one of the shelves to rearrange them and low and behold there was my ring setting on the shelf. I am glad the Lord allowed me to have my mother's ring back. I am even happier with the lesson He taught me in listening. Any good thought comes from God.