Looking Good
During the mid-90’s, I was completely wrapped up in taking care of
business at Sunrise Engineering. This
came at the expense, I am ashamed to say, of my family time. I lost out.
I was not present many times when I should have been to participate in ordinary
family experiences and I believe I could have taught my children much better
about the gospel of Jesus Christ and let them feel my testimony. I am proud to say my children turned out
pretty good in spite of me.
The business pressure was huge.
I had employees with families to pay every 2 weeks and tough
circumstances to make ends meet. We were
growing. The word “growing” for a
business can mean many different things.
You can be growing: in new geographic areas where you offer services by
adding offices, in dollar volume produced or net profit each year with the same
number of employees, in new employees locating in existing offices, with new
services offered to your customers, etc.
I my case it was all of the above.
Sunrise was engaged by the Town of Levan, Utah to build a Town
owned and operated satellite receiver and cable TV system in the Town and
design and construct a new Town Hall building.
Citizens of Levan claim to be located in the geographic center of Utah
therefore they named the Town “navel,” spelled backwards; whatever. I know most of the people who live in Levan as
I spent a great deal of time there with project assignments. I drove a red Ford F-250 truck (all of our
fleet of 75 plus vehicles are fire engine red with our nice, modern logo on the
doors). I had the habit of refueling at
the Texaco Gas and Goodies in Nephi. I
was also used to fueling up on the ranch where I just pump fuel from bulk
storage tanks and then got on my way.
One night I was scheduled to report the project status to the Levan
Town Board. I was not going home through
Nephi, so I fueled up before the meeting.
Things were going well during the presentation until 2 policemen showed up
at the meeting. They spoke briefly to my
partner, Val Kofoed, and then interrupted me and escorted me out of the
meeting. Allegedly, I was a “gas skip”. I had pulled into the Texaco, fueled up and
left; completely forgetting to pay the bill.
The police had set up road blocks but when I did not show up they
figured I was hiding out somewhere in Levan.
They drove around town until they saw my red Ford F-250 with logos on
the doors parked at Town Hall. So, my
life of crime got off to a real rocky start.
They took me back to the Texaco station where I was apologetic and happy
to pay my bill. You can imagine how they hunt down real criminals in Juab County.
That did not look good. In
fact I cannot think of a worse way to look to my clients, the citizens of
Levan. Luckily, my partner took over and
salvaged the presentation as I learned later after I crept back into the
meeting and should have been wearing a disguise.
We used to do a great deal of snowmobiling during the winter. I found it be loads of fun but it can be
dangerous because it is easy to go too fast for the terrain or get into bad
situations. On one particular outing a
friend of ours made the comment, “The important thing about snowmobiling is to
go fast and to look good.”
Looking good is important to probably everyone. Everyone takes a look in the mirror each day
before going out to essentially check if they look good. I have an opinion of what the most important
way to look good is. It stems from my
misdeeds of not giving time to my family.
Follow my idea and you will look good to others; you will look good to
yourself and more importantly, you will look good to your family and your
Heavenly Father. You look good if you
are a good dad or mother to your family.
How can you be a good dad or mother? Paraphrasing Elder Holland, parents can make
faith too difficult for their children to detect.
“If we do not live lives of
gospel integrity and convey to our children powerful, heartfelt convictions
regarding the First Vision, then those children may, to our regret but not
surprise, turn out not to be visibly active, meeting going Latter-day
Saints or sometimes anything close to it…Don’t just assume your children will
somehow get the drift of your beliefs on their own.” (Jeffrey R. Holland, Ensign, May 2003 p. 89)
President Benson counseled fathers to follow the pattern of
teaching modeled by righteous fathers is the Book of Mormon. The fathers taught plainly, frequently, and
fervently the gospel truths of: the
fall, rebirth, atonement, resurrection, judgment, and eternal life.
Jacob was a great example as a father. His son, Enos, heard the words of his father
regarding gospel truths. He was willing
to let those words sink deep in his heart.
He desire to know for himself if those teachings were true and where he
stood before his Eternal Maker. Enos described
an intense spiritual appetite which qualified him for blessings. Enos was obedient to the commandment of God
which enabled him to be receptive to the Holy Ghost and the Spirit of
revelation. Finally Enos kneeled down
before God and cried in mighty prayer.
That comes from good fatherly instruction as Elder Holland describes.
Enoch taught that we are to teach our children and he explained
what to teach our children.
57 Wherefore
teach it unto your children, that all men, everywhere, must repent, or they
can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God, for no unclean thing can dwell there,
or dwell in his presence; for, in the language of Adam, Man of Holiness is his
name, and the name of his Only Begotten is the Son of Man, even Jesus Christ, a
righteous Judge, who shall come in the meridian of time.
58
Therefore I give unto you a commandment, to teach these things freely unto
your children, saying:
59 That
by reason of transgression cometh the fall, which fall bringeth death, and
inasmuch as ye were born into the world by water, and blood, and the spirit,
which I have made, and so became of dust a living soul, even so ye must be born
again into the kingdom of heaven, of water, and of the Spirit, and be cleansed
by blood, even the blood of mine Only Begotten; that ye might be sanctified
from all sin, and enjoy the words of eternal life in this world, and eternal
life in the world to come, even immortal glory… (Moses 6;47-68)
All of you will shortly be going to school, choosing a career,
getting married, making a living and raising a family. Do not let life get the best of you by
placing a low priority on family.
President Robinson
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