That Easter Morn

Think about a good, "summer" season of your life, figuratively speaking. A time when things were going great. The sun was shining, the weather was perfect, and everything just seemed to be going your way. Maybe it was a job promotion you were about to get that you had worked hard for years to obtain. Maybe you finally got engaged to the person you have been waiting years to find. Or, maybe you just overcame an illness or recovered from a surgery and are excited about the prospect of a healthy body once again. Whatever the case, the feeling was that there is a bright future. You could sense the light. You felt as if your day had finally come. Your hope was about to be realized.

For me that is what the disciples felt as Christ rode triumphantly into Jerusalem. Here was their King, come to redeem Israel. Their day had arrived.

Then, what happened in the followed days utterly dashed their hopes and their dreams. This was the moment they had been waiting for! Everything had been right. How did it suddenly and so inexplicably go so wrong? From sunshine and salvation to death and darkness in a matter of days. These contemporary Christians must have been dumbfounded and devastated.

Cleopas, on the road to Emmaus, voices his heartfelt disappointment, "But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel". Can you feel it? Everything had been perfect. He had trusted wholeheartedly in God and that trust seems to have been in vain. After all the waiting, and hoping and trusting, just when you think it is about to pay off, it seems to go south again.

Their King, the One who was supposed to redeem Israel, was gone.

This is the backdrop of that Easter Morn. But one lesson we can learn from the resurrection of Jesus Christ is that his thoughts are not our thoughts, and his ways are not our ways. Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so his ways are higher than ours. Christ performed everything that had been prophesied and promised. But not in ways the disciples expected.

So it is with us.

When we think things are going unexpectedly and terribly wrong (when in fact, they are going terribly wrong), it may just be that God is performing His work, just as promised, but that we just don't understand it quite yet. Just as the Apostles took some time to come to understand the higher work God had worked, it may take some time for us to realize the higher work God is performing in our lives. To us, it may not make any sense whatsoever. It may be confusing. It may seem like God hasn't kept his promises. It may seem like our faith and trust in him is all in vain.

I know that it isn't. Although we don't always understand how the Lord is working in our lives, I know He is. As long as we are striving to be close to Him and do what He asks. Because of the resurrection in particular, I know that "He lives, all blessings to impart" even when we can't see or understand those blessings. I know that Jesus Christ lives!

The Book of Mormon

So, it turns out that Duke has a first edition copy of the Book of Mormon. You have to register with the special collections people, and promise not to steal anything, but then they just bring it out and put it there for you to flip through! My friend Camille and I went on Friday to check it out. Here are a few pictures.

I should have taken a picture of it, but the last page has a picture of some kind of animal (potentially a dragon) by a kid. Church is long sometimes, right?

Jokes aside, this was obviously a really cool opportunity. As we were flipping through, Camille said "I wonder how many people this book converted?" It was neat to reflect on what that books life might have been like. This was a book never before seen by the world. It was suddenly much easier to see the Book of Mormon through the eyes of someone who has never hear of it or seen it before. What would have been like to receive this book without any preconceived notions about "Mormons" or Joseph Smith? Reading the testimonies of Jesus Christ, the detailed explanations of faith, repentance, justice, mercy, and grace, the stories of missionary work and entire civilizations conversion to Christianity, the account of Jesus Christ visiting the people personally! It is a remarkable book. This book was the initial fulfillment of hundreds of years of prophecy and promises to the people in the Americas.

I guess you could say that even more amazing are the millions of people who have received this book since it was first printed in 1830. Last night I attended a baptism for my ward. I sat next to another guy in my ward who was baptized last fall. It is still having a significant impact on the world. How many books that have ever been published have had such a profound impact on the world (and I mean the entire world, since it has been translated into 82 languages and more than 150 million copies have been printed)? I can only think of a few. Obviously, this is no ordinary book. 

And when I think about the impact it has had on my own life, I can hardly believe it. There is no doubt in my mind that this book is true. I love this book for what it teaches and for the Spirit and power it brings into my life when I study it. I had no idea the first time I read the Book of Mormon how great an impact it would have had on the choices I would make and the kind of person I would become. 

For anyone reading this who doesn't know much about the Book of Mormon, here is a short introductory video.

The Tim Tam Pam

Christmas

I know this is a lot of pictures, but I had a long break from school, so what do you expect? If you have seen Pam's blog, you will notice a few repeats.

Snowboarding with McCalle Hazen and others at Sundance. It snowed all day and we had a blast.

 Jason and Deb and I read an abridged version of The Christmas Carol. Probably my favorite rendition ever. The many accents employed by all of us made for some good laughs.

Gingerbread houses.

I just love this picture.

To the temple lights!

Pam and Rob have a cool tradition of mixing drinks... I mean Bahama Bucks snowcones... at Christmas time. We had a nice sunny and warm day at the park.

Christmas morning.

Hens playing king of the mountain.

I had a lot of fin with her.

Oh and this was cool. Until it fell over.

My parents, Kim, Nate, and Brother and Sister Hall  (pictured below) got to attend the new Gilbert Temple together. It was one of the best parts of the trip.

Also a highlight - visiting my mission president and his wife. I love and respect them more and more.

Kim took my parents and I to the Musical Instrument Museum. It was really cool.

Rollerblading around Tempe Town Lake has become a tradition of our every time I visit.

The lifesize legos are also a great way to keep the kids contained.

In addition to "Uncle Dave" I went by "bavid" while visiting.

Christmas Eve dinner!

My new favorite picture of my mom.

Doin' hair. It's just what we do.

I liked this picture of Luc and I. And Nate. In fact, this is the best photobomb I have seen in a while. He just had to subtly glance up at just the right moment...

To anyone looking at the blog who has ever seen me wear this shirt and wondered why I wear it.. here is your answer. Its all because of her.

Saved the best for last...