The Working Man's Words

Feb. 17-23: La Vita è Bella, by Hunter Schenewark

Reading Into Thin Air, I learned two new words to be employed at a scrabble game coming soon. Cwm, and nak. Cwm, pronounced koom, is a welsh-term meaning valley, and has been adopted by climbers internationally. Nak is a female yak. I'm ready to play!

This week, everything has pointed towards consecration.

Tuesday, I left work and went to Buffalo Wild Wings. There, I met up with Kevin, a roommate from my freshman year. We ate some wings and caught up. It's impossible to stay uber-close, but its good to stay in touch with friends. Kevin moved back from California a few months ago, and I enjoyed our time at the restaurant.

Wednesday was a busy day. That night, I was invited to attend a talk by Sharon Eubank, the democratic debate was happening, book club was going on, and the church released its new handbook which I really wanted to read. I missed Sis. Eubanks talk, but staying up later than normal, managed to squeeze the rest in.

Thursday I went to Institute. This was right after going to the gym so David Kaiser went with me. The class was good, and we socialized a bit afterward. What was really touching was what happened after that.

Last week, a woman came up to me and asked me for a ride. She looked kind of homeless, was missing most of her teeth and couldn't really look you in the eyes. I said yes, I'd be happy to, but it would be 10 minutes as the Lambert's were playing an audio clip from Pres. Eyring's funeral address for Clayton Christensen.

She said ok, no problem, and said she'd wait outside the classroom and eat the snacks brought to institute. After the 10 minutes, I left and couldn't find her. I walked all around the church building twice before finally giving up and going home.

When I saw her this week, I offered to give her a ride for which she was most grateful. David came with me, and we drove her up to the Provo Temple.

In some ways, not everything is right. She has some disorder. Yet, in the most important ways, everything is right. I felt sanctified being with her, as she continually shared her testimony. The church is her life. She hails from Tonga, and has been in the US for 8 years. Her parents both are dead now, and she has been working in the Salt Lake Temple as a cleaner. When the temple closed, she was out of a job, and moved down to Orem and cleans the Provo temple nightly, Monday-Saturday. She was so gracious and thankful and continually wished us the best and blessings for helping her. Little does she know, I was so truly blessed to meet her and listen to her and see her dedication to the Lord.

Friday, I left work and the sun was shining, and as often happens in situations like these, I ended up missing my exit and driving straight to the golf course. It's still being renovated, but I enjoyed putting and being outside.

Saturday I had a date with Emma. She came over at 6 and together we made dinner together. We made rice, rolls, squash, and tried a new recipe that was bubbling around in my brain. It was peaches lightly sauteed with beet tops. We mixed it in with the rice, and it was delicious! Much better than I expected. We talked non-stop and it was a really fun time. The date would have lasted longer, but at 8:15, I walked her home as some ward members were coming over for Movie Night 2.0. We had some peaches, some ice cream, shed some tears, shared many laughs, and just had a good time while watching "La Vita é Bella." (Life is Beautiful). A truly great movie. It was in Italian, subtitled in english. It's a love story told in the shadow of the Holocaust and the main character illustrates what consecration to family looks like.

Porter and Cooper made it over for a pot roast that lives in dreams, and Porter again left as victor, beating us in Settler's of Cataan.

I gave a talk on Sunday, and told 5 stories to help convey my message on consecration. First, I talked about backing up and crashing into another car while on my date December 8th, and heading up to the Christmas Devotional. The takeaway: I was distracted by the little things, causing me to miss what really mattered.

Second, I recounted a bit on the Alamo. Sunday was February 23rd, and it marked 184 years, going back to the year 1836, when Santa Ana had his troops surround the Alamo and begin a 13-day siege that ended with all of the defenders dead. Among them was George Washington Cottle. At the time, he was 24 (my age now) and was married. His wife was pregnant, and after his death, would eventually give birth to twins. He was given the option along with all others in the Alamo to surrender and leave alive. He chose to stay and fight, knowing that he would almost certainly die and never see his wife again. Yet, there are some things that are worth fighting for and dying for. I don't think we can fully live until we decide what we are willing to die for. George Washington Cottle is an example of consecration to me.slike you are on Mt. Everest, and your life depends on it.

The consecrated life is a beautiful life.