Monday, January 29, 2024
I slept on an air mattress last night. Maybe I didn’t inflate it well enough, but it was not comfortable. Hopefully River can get feeling better today, or I will just have to get used to this.
I’m going to disappear and get a bunch of work done today. Top of list: sell the Sequoia and get bank accounts for the kids.
I’m reading in the Book of Mormon in chapter 16. Lehi has this preparatory time where he has to send his sons back for the plates and then again for the family of Ishmael. Then, when it is time to really head into the desert, the Lord sends him the Liahona. What is our Liahona?
Combine that with what we talked about yesterday concerning the guidance of the Spirit. Our Elders quorum lesson was great. We talked about the talk by Elder Eyring about the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. It dawned on me that we often expect that if we are following the Spirit it will lead us down an easier path. Nephi teaches that the Liahona led them “in the more fertile parts of the wilderness” (1 Nephi 16:16). But I was thinking yesterday: if the purpose of life is to grow, and we only grow through resistance, then the Holy Ghost would not be doing us any favors if it only led us down the path of least resistance. In fact, we should expect that the Holy Ghost will lead us down the path of most grown -- the path of most resistance. And we see that in Nephi’s journey. They faced all kinds of trials and troubles, even when the Liahona was working for them. So even if we are led by the Spirit on this trip -- which I believe we are -- then we have to expect trials. And the bigger the struggles, the more growth we can hope to have if we take the Savior’s hand. One of the key differences between Nephi and his brothers is that while they complained and looked for every opportunity out of the difficult times, Nephi accepted and was grateful for the blessings of the Lord -- even in the hard times.
In the morning today I had a good talk with Matt Bell on the phone, and then Betty, Alicia, Ian, and I went for a walk down to UVU.
When we got there, Ian said: “I recognize this place. Specifically that wall!” I thought that was the most random thing, but it turns out they filmed a part of an episode of Random Acts right in front of that wall. We walked to see the window of the history of knowledge. It’s amazing! Then we walked to Walmart and then back to the house. It was good to get out and breath some air and stretch our legs.
Distance Hiked Today: 6.11 km/3.8 mi
Distance hiked on trip: 75.54 km/46.94 mi
